


Where They Travelled

by Revans_Mask



Series: Ashara Shepard [3]
Category: Mass Effect
Genre: Action/Adventure, F/F, Fluff and Smut, Humor, Mystery, Romance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-07-11
Updated: 2013-12-05
Packaged: 2017-12-19 04:53:31
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 33
Words: 59,530
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/879684
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Revans_Mask/pseuds/Revans_Mask
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>A year and a half after the end of the Reaper War, Ashara Shepard and Liara are ready to settle down and start a new life.  More than just memories may have followed them however, and eventually, they find themselves embroiled in a dangerous plot.  Meanwhile, the rest of the crew struggles to find their place in a changed galaxy.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Moving In

“Glad to see you’re finally awake, skipper.”

“Hey, give me a break, Ash. It was my wedding night. Besides, in another few hours, you’ll be the captain.”

“Speaking of your new wife, where is Liara?”

“Just packing up some stuff in her office. She should be down here in a few.”

“It’s still odd imagining you as a civilian. Diplomacy, huh?”

“Of a sort, I guess. God knows I got enough practice yelling at the Council.”

A heavy set of footsteps announces the arrival of another old friend. “Sure, Shepard, but as I recall, you hated every minute of it. Where do you want this stuff?”

“Just put it wherever on the shuttle, Garrus. We’ll sort it all out once we get to the house. And I only hated it because back then nobody listened to me. Believe it or not, I actually enjoy being able to do good without shooting people in the face.”

“Well, the fact that you saved most of their lives repeatedly probably does encourage the politicians to pay attention to you at this point. Still, don’t you worry it’ll get a little dull?”

“Duller I could use. Besides, it’s not as stuffy as all that. Mostly just governments calling to get my help sorting out their disputes; it’s not that different from a lot of the hand-holding I’ve been doing since the war anyway. There’ll probably be a little travel for the more serious cases, but I won’t be shuffling papers all day.”

“And you think that’ll be enough to keep you occupied?”

“We’ll see. For now, there’s plenty of work to do setting up the new house.”

“It’s Liara’s right? Never really pictured you as a kept woman, Lola.”

“Very funny, James. Careful with that box and don’t stack anything on top of it. You break those ships and I might have to postpone my retirement to kick your ass.”

In truth, she and Liara are both individually wealthy. Ashara had been reluctant to capitalize on her fame, but with unauthorized biographies and dubious merchandise cropping up everywhere, Liara had persuaded her that she might as well get involved, if only to try and keep things tasteful. She’d agreed, with the stipulation that a significant share of both her royalties and the profits go to aid the victims of the war, but with the demand for everything Shepard remaining insatiable a year and a half after the destruction of the Reapers, she still won’t have to worry about money for the foreseeable future.

As for Liara, she acquired significant financial resources when she became the Shadow Broker, supplemented by her inheritance from her mother, a part of which is their house on Thessia. Despite the fact that it had belonged to Benezia, Shepard’s wife has no real memory of it. The Matriarch had given birth to her daughter around the time that her political influence had started to expand, and when Liara was three, they had moved to a larger compound to accommodate her mother’s growing number of acolytes. However, the house remained in the family, and though it was slightly damaged during the war, it’s mostly intact. Spacious but not cavernous and isolated enough to allow for some privacy while being relatively near the city of Kosia, it’s an ideal location for the galaxy’s best known couple.

“Hey, chill, chill. I’ll be careful. Still can’t believe you’re not taking a honeymoon though.”

“Another trip? Seriously? Liara and I have spent pretty much the entire time we’ve been together flying around the galaxy. A nice, domestic start to our marriage sounds pretty good.”

 

“It’ll need some fixing up, but I think it’s nice.”

To Liara’s eyes, the house is something of a mess. Half of the furniture hasn’t been delivered yet, the crew is in the process of leaving boxes everywhere, and several of the rooms on the second floor are still in ruins. None of that, however, seems to put a damper on Liara’s wife’s good mood.

The information broker knows how she feels. She hadn’t initially thought of the wedding as necessary. For asari, the pledge of love and commitment is more important than any formal tradition, especially since their tendency to build families with other species would complicate an attachment to a particular ceremony. She and Ashara became bondmates the day on the Presidium when they promised to spend their lives together, and that night when they made love, the word “Always,” echoing across the meld, Liara hadn’t needed a wedding or a ring, just Shepard.

Still, it had been important to Ashara. She’d explained that it wasn’t just for them, but for those they care about, a way of signifying that this is the person that means more to them than anyone else and when the human had put it that way, a wedding had seemed quite reasonable. They had held it on the Normandy; the crew is their real family, and having them there, with Tali officiating in her capacity as an Admiral of the Migrant Fleet, had meant more to the asari than she had anticipated.

The reminder that they really are spending their lives together had also ignited a particular passion in Ashara and, still enjoying the afterglow from the night before, Liara’s happy to put a positive face on things too. Kissing her wife affectionately, she just responds, “It certainly could be worse, love.”

 

“Hey, Doc. Where do you want this terminal thing?”

“I think the room on the left will work well as my office, James.”

Much of Liara’s information network was destroyed during the war, and the question of how much of it she should try to rebuild had been something of a contentious issue between her and Ashara.

“Look, I’m not saying you shouldn’t keep working as an information dealer. It’s a good way to help the galaxy, and working from home gives me lots of chances to enjoy distracting you. But you have to give up being the all-knowing Shadow Broker You took over that job for a reason and it’s over now.”

“Shepard, you do not understand. What it took for me to acquire the position; I cannot simply abandon it.”

“You’re not being reasonable. This isn’t something you can do for the rest of your life.”

“But there is still so much I can accomplish. To quit now…”

There had been a slightly frantic tone to her voice, and Ashara had softened when she heard it, putting her arms around the asari’s waist as she asked, “Liara, do you remember the last Shadow Broker?”

“You know that I do. Why?”

“Aside from being amoral, ugly, and unusually punchable for somebody that size, do you know what else he was?”

In spite of herself, Liara had smiled. It’s always difficult for her to stay mad in Shepard’s embrace. “I am not certain what you are referring to, love.”

“He was grossly overworked. We showed up in his office after killing about 60 of his mercenaries, and his first thought was to be annoyed because he didn’t have time for the interruption. I don’t want that to be you.”

Liara had sighed then, conceding defeat. “You are right. It’s just not easy to scale back.”

“I know. Not pushing quite so hard has been tough for me too. I just try to remind myself that we don’t have the fate of the galaxy resting on our shoulders anymore and that a very smart asari once told me that we’ve earned a life for ourselves.”

Her smile had turned into a laugh. “Very well then. If Commander Shepard can retire from the Alliance, than I suppose I can cut down my network to a more manageable size.”

 

With everything unloaded, all that remains are the goodbyes. Shepard’s departure is serving as a trigger for some of the others to leave as well; James is heading off to N-7 training, and Garrus and Tali are moving to Palaven to help with the rebuilding effort there. Javik has already departed for parts unknown about six months ago, and Samantha took a lab job three months after that, so turnover is very much on Shepard’s mind as she gives her parting thoughts to Ashley.

“You sure you’re going to be okay, Ash? I mean, with so much of the team leaving.”

“It’ll be fine. You’d be a hell of an act to follow as a CO anyway, skipper. It might be good to bring in some new people who I can impress more easily.”

“I told you, you can stop calling me that now.”

“The Normandy will always be your ship. I’m just taking care of her for a while.”

“All right. Speaking as your captain then, keep an eye on Jeff.”

“Roger that, skip. But he is doing a bit better. Time plus getting laid that much helps, I guess.”

“Joker? Really? I mean, he’s a good guy, but he can be a little bit…”

“Of a pain in the ass?”

“I was going to say difficult.”

“True, but… you know how you’re pretty much the most famous person in the galaxy?”

“Sure.”

“Well, when you’re around, everyone may be paying attention to the ‘Savior of the Galaxy,’ but when you’re not, we all kind of benefit from your reflected glory. Not really my thing, but ‘I’m on the Normandy’ seems to work pretty well as a pick-up line.”

“Good for Joker I guess, but I’m not sure groupies are the answer to all his problems.”

“Probably not, but still… ‘Goes up at evening to his home, and throws him, sleepy, tired, and sore, upon his bed, and rests him there, his pain and trouble o'er,’ probably works better if the bed isn’t always empty.”

“True enough I suppose, and on that subject, make sure you get some R&R too. I know how hard it is to find the time when you’re in command.”

Ashley laughs. “You really do enjoy worrying about your crew. You sure you’re ready to give it all up?”

Ashara chuckles in return, but as she catches a glimpse of Liara in the next room turning her head to smile at Shepard while she investigates the contents of one of their boxes, there’s only one answer the now-former Specter can think to give. “I am, Ash. I really am.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The poem is "Each Has His Grief" by Walt Whitman.


	2. Restraint

“So it looks like we have a deal. The krogan can keep Tytrus, but the asari get back Eliphus, and the mining rights in the asteroid belt will be split 50/50.”

“You know, we’re the ones that the took the whole damn system back from those pirates.”

“Yes, you did, but you also want the asari’s help on those terraforming projects, and I got them to agree to give it to you on the condition that you return their planet for recolonization.”

The krogan leader growls. “You really know when you’ve got my quad in a vice, Shepard.”  
“Wrex...”

“All right, all right,” he concedes, waving a clawed hand dismissively. “The asari can have their damn colony. Not enough decent hunting there for my taste anyway.”

“You’re a good man. I’ll let Tevos know we have a deal and you two can work out the details of the handover.”

“Not sure why she called you in on this anyway. I was being perfectly reasonable.”

Shepard laughs. “Well, who am I to say why those Councilors do anything?”

“Heh. Good point. Guess I can’t complain; it’s always good to work with you, even if it’s not as much fun as clearing out a Geth outpost.”

“Good to talk to you too, Wrex. Tell Bakara and the kids I said ‘hi.’”

“And you tell Liara her mate haggles like a broke volus.”

“I’ll think about it. Till text time.”

As the call ends, the krogan chuckles. When Wrex was young, he’d thought that courage meant not being afraid of death. It was a stupid, easy thing to believe and most of his people did the same. It gave them a way to feel superior to other species since, as Mordin had once put it, “Krogan have long lives. Naturally high birthrates. Species can afford to place low value on individual survival. Explains high rate of employment in dangerous professions. Also, fondness for ryncol.” 

That attitude was why the genophage nearly destroyed them. A bunch of half clever salarian statisticians might have claimed that the population should be stable, not in decline, but the violent nature that had led to the krogan being uplifted in the first place didn’t easily change, even when they could no longer afford the deaths. 

The idiocy of that approach had been clear to Wrex when he killed his father, but at the time, he’d had no alternative to offer his people. Instead, he’d spent 300 years of bounty hunting killing time and people because he couldn’t see a way to do anything that would have made a real difference.

And then he’d met Shepard. It wasn’t her bravery in the face of impossible odds that impressed him; he knew plenty of idiots unafraid to die. It wasn’t even her skill in battle, though she was the most devastating warrior he’d encountered in all his centuries of fighting. No, what made a truly lasting impression on Wrex was Shepard’s willingness to do what she had to, no matter how much she didn’t want to do it.

A krogan warlord with a casual disregard for the lives of his men might not have bled with some of her choices the way Shepard had, but that was exactly why it took real toughness and courage for her to make them. When she left Alenko to his death on Virmire, when she sacrificed Alliance ships to save the Council, he could tell how much it hurt her, but she’d done it anyway, and she’d won. A human female only slightly older than some of his empty liquor bottles had killed the most feared Specter in the galaxy and stopped the return of the Reapers. If she could do that, than he could go back to Tuchanka and try to make a difference, no matter how much negotiating with people he’d rather hit sometimes made him crazy.

These days, there are times he wants to just reach across the table and smash in the heads of the people on the other side until they agree to his terms, and others that he isn’t feeling quite as charitable, but it’s not what the krogan need. Doing it wouldn’t make him tough, it would make him weak, and if there’s one thing Urdnot Wrex is not, it’s weak. So he sucks it up, he does what needs to be done, and sometimes he marvels at how much learning Shepard’s lesson has gotten him: a united people, a cure for the genophage, a seat on the Council, and new colonies are well worth him keeping his temper in check. And he does. Most of the time anyway. Hey, even he isn’t perfect.

 

It had only been Shepard’s lousy influence that’d even made Zaeed try. There’s just something about the damn woman that makes you want her to like you and in her case, it’s not even the usual thing. Sure, she’d probably be a hell of a fuck, but he was never stupid enough to think he had a shot at that. She’s been hung up on that cute blue piece of ass for as long as he’s known her, and even if she wasn’t, he’s not the one who gets the girl.

Whatever it is about her though, it definitely has an effect on him. If she’d been damn near anyone else then after that disaster at the refinery, when she’d let Vido Santiago escape and chewed him out afterwards, Zaeed would have done his level best to blow her fucking head off at the first chance he’d gotten. Instead, he’d tried to impress her. Helped her with that idiotic Volus ambassador, fought the goddamn war for free and when it was over, he’d taken his money from Cerberus and retired. Found one of the few beaches the Reapers hadn’t ruined, and spent his time getting drunk off his ass, screwing a bunch of twits who were impressed that he knew Commander Shepard, and doing his best to forget about the past.

Didn’t work. He never would have thought he could get tired of good booze, easy tail, and nice weather, but without some real excitement to liven it up, that shit got pretty dull pretty fucking quickly. Four months in, he begun beating up smart-asses in bars just to pass the time. After seven months, he was thinking about shooting the lifeguards. At the end of the first year, he was starting to consider shooting himself instead.

By the time he got the call two weeks ago, he hadn’t even had to think about it. An old turian buddy named Pularch, an ex-marine he used to do body-guarding work with, was on Omega and he’d found a fresh lead on Vito. Zaeed had been on the first flight off of Earth so fast he’d still had his sunburn when he’d arrived at the meet. A few beers and a few battered informants later, they’d been on another ship, this one taking them to a shit-hole supply depot on an asteroid in the Armstrong Nebula where some of the Blue Suns who worked directly for Vito were supposed to be passing through.

They’d gotten there with enough time to set an ambush, and now, as the incendiary grenades rain down from the balcony onto the mercenaries below him and the screams of his burning enemies echo through the enclosed space, Zaeed realizes just how much he’s missed this. It may be sick, but it’s him, and if Shepard doesn’t like it, fuck her. He sees her and her girl on the news all the time, living on Thessia now in some big, fancy house. It’s hard for him to think that she can stand retirement any more than he could; she was too good a soldier for that, but either way, that’s her problem; he’s got work to do.


	3. Echoes

“So, how’ve you been, kid?”

Liara T’Soni is not especially pleased by her father’s casual tone. “How have I been? I have not seen you for more than two years and that’s all that you have to say?”

“I kept in touch.”

“You sent one message after I left four of them for you, trying to ascertain if you were alive.” Liara had heard reports from her agents that Aethyta had been seen on Thessia shortly after she and Ashara had returned from their vacation, but without verification, the eight day delay before her father responded had been trying.

“What, the great and powerful Shadow Broker didn’t already know?”

“In case you had not noticed, there was a great deal of turmoil at the time. I wanted to be certain.”

“Well, it’s good to know that you cared.” 

Aethyta’s sarcastic reply does little to sooth Liara’s irritation. “I wish that I could say the same. Frankly, given your habitual lack of interest in speaking to me, I am not certain why you are here now.”

She has more to say, but she’s stopped in her tracks when she sees a change come over her father. There’s a hint of pain on her dark blue face and when she replies, her usual acerbic tone is absent from her voice. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to start a fight. If you don’t want to talk to me, I understand. I just needed to ask your bondmate something.”

“Shepard is on a call… but you can wait down here for her if you’d like.” She’s still angry, but she has so little family left and she doesn’t really want to drive her father away again.

Liara shows her in, and as they walk past a glass display case, Aethyta comments, “So, that’s a lot of medals.”

“Yes.” Liara doesn’t say more, still trying to settle her emotions, but it’s true. Since the war, Ashara has been awarded virtually every decoration the governments of the galaxy can bestow on her. She’d be just as happy putting the whole lot in a box, but Liara insists on displaying them. She’s proud of her bondmate, and besides, it’s good for Shepard to have a visible reminder of what she accomplished. The guilt over everyone she didn’t save still surfaces from time to time, and Liara wants her to remember what a hero she is.

When they reach the downstairs living room, Liara sits in a dark leather chair while the older asari takes a seat on the sofa. “I’m glad you two decided to live here. Lot of memories,” Aethyta remarks as she looks around the room. “Of course, I think the couch used to be over there. In fact,” she adds with a troublesome glint in her eyes, “That’s where your mother and I…”

“I believe that I do not need to hear the rest of that story.” She’s failing to keep a note of anger out of her voice.

“Forgot you can be a little prudish. So how’s work?”

“It is fine. Somewhat simpler now the galaxy has started to return to an approximation of normal.”

“And Shepard’s treating you right?”

“Of course she is. The fact that you are even asking proves how little you know about us.” Aethyta opens her mouth to reply to the attack, but before she can, they’re both distracted by the sound of footsteps coming down the stairs.

 

“Liara. So, I’m done for now, but...” As Shepard enters the room, she’s surprised to see Aethyta in their living room, but not unpleasantly so. She’d liked the colorful asari bartender when they’d met on Illium, and it’s hurt her wife that her father didn’t get in touch sooner after their brief reunion on the Citadel. “Aethyta. I didn’t know you were going to be visiting.”

“Indeed. It was quite unexpected.” There’s an harshness in Liara’s voice as Shepard plants a quick kiss on her forehead. “How was your call?”

“Fine. It’ll take a little longer but I think I can get this ridiculous trade dispute settled. Anyway, what brings you here Aethyta?”

Before the Matriarch can answer, Liara cuts in, her tone definitely frosty. “She wanted to see you, so allow me to leave the two of you alone.”

“Liara…”

“I have business to take care of, father.”

As Liara leaves the room, Shepard sits down next to Aethyta on the couch. “Look, she’s kind of pissed about you not calling. I’ll try to talk to her later if you want.”

“Thanks.” There’s a wounded quality to Aethyta’s reply that Shepard hadn’t expected. “I was out of her life for so long, and now I don’t really know where to start.”

“I know that. For now, I think, just try being around more. Liara needs to know you’re not going to run out on her again before she can trust you. She’s lost too many people already.” Including nearly me, way too many times, Ashara adds to herself. Between Benezia, the war, and Shepard’s numerous brushes with death, Liara doesn’t need any more loss in her life.

Aethyta nods, seeming uncertain and preferring to change the subject. “Anyway, about why I came here. Remember how I used to tell the asari that they needed to stop treating war like a striptease and develop some stomach for a real fight?”

“Yeah. They didn’t listen to you.”

“Well, after the Reapers, enough of them saw the light that the republics are starting to put together some heavy ground forces.  
A small group for now, but it’s a something. Of course, not many asari have a lot of experience with this shit. A bunch of the Matriarchs were talking about hiring turians or krogan, but then it occurred to me that the galaxy’s most celebrated ground assault specialist is married to my daughter.”

Shepard’s not sure quite how to respond to that. Reenlistment isn’t exactly on her agenda. “Aethyta, I retired from the Alliance. I’m not really looking to join the asari military.”

“I’m not talking about going back on the front lines. Liara’s barely old enough to be bonded; no need to make her a widow. You’d be an instructor. They’d be willing to set up the training facility near your house, pay you whatever you wanted, and let you pick your own hours.”

“Pretty generous.”

“Not to let your head get swelled any bigger than it already is, but Liara’s not the only one who considers you a catch. A little bit of that Shepard whatever the fuck would go a long way to selling my people on this project.”

“I’m still not sure about this.”

“Besides, it’ll give you something to do other than sit around the house all day and diddle my daughter.”

“Christ, Aethyta!” Shepard rubs her head with one hand in semi-mock distress, but the inappropriate comment aside, the Matriarch does have a point. With the house repairs done, she has still has a lot of free time on her hands even with her diplomatic work.

Aethyta laughs, a rich, throaty sound. “You two are a good match; both a little bit sensitive.”

“Yeah, that’s what people usually say about me. Anyway, I’ll talk your offer over with Liara, but no promises.”

“Thanks, Shepard. For that, and… for looking out for her as well.”

 

Shepard knocks on the door of her wife’s office. “Liara, honey, are you all right?”

“I am fine. Did you two finish your business?”

“Yeah, your dad took off. Can I come in?”

“Of course. It is not you that I'm annoyed with.”

Not yet anyway, Ashara thinks as she enters to find her wife sitting at her desk, half-heartedly looking at a pile of leaked salarian intelligence reports. Shepard leans over to plant a light kiss on her cheek before asking, “What happened? You were pretty hard on Aethyta back there.”

Liara stands up, hesitating before she answers. “She did not… It was not something that she did today. It is more… we barely heard from her for two years and then she appears at our door, acting as if nothing is out of the ordinary.”

“I know…”

“I really cannot tell if she wants to be my father or not.”

Ashara puts her arms around Liara, trying to soothe her aggravation. “You’re right. It’s confusing. But I think it’s confusing for her too. She was out of your life for so long, and now she wants in but she doesn’t know how to go about it. In case you hadn’t noticed, your dad’s not exactly an expert at warm and fuzzy.”

Liara laughs. Shepard can almost always make her wife laugh. “Very well. If she bothers to show up again in the next decade or so, I will try to give her another chance. Now, what was it that she wanted with you?”

“Well, apparently she’s finally convinced the asari government to put together some regular infantry, and they want my help with it.”

The small smile she’d coaxed out of Liara disappears from the asari’s face. “I presume that you told her no.”

“I said that we’d talk about it.”

“What exactly is there to discuss, Shepard?”

“Liara…”

“No! We made a promise that we weren’t going to do this any more! You retired!” Liara’s anger is formidable, as the Shadow Broker learned to his sorrow, and Ashara hates the rare times when she’s on the wrong side of it.

“I know that,” she replies defensively. “I’d never break my word to you.”

And then, suddenly, the anger’s gone, and Liara is throwing her arms around her, her voice cracking. “Ashara… please, I cannot… I cannot lose you again.”

Guilt twists in Shepard’s gut. She was just telling Aethyta about Liara’s fear of loss; she should have been clearer from the start, but their conversation about Aethyta had distracted her from her plan for how to explain the job offer. “You won’t. I’m not going anywhere. It’d just be training.” She kisses the asari ‘s face gently, her hand stroking her crest. “They’d build the facility near here. I wouldn’t be in any danger.”

Liara’s voice is calmer now. “I am sorry I attacked you like that. I just…”

“No, it’s my fault. I should’ve said that to begin with.” She pauses for a moment. A part of her wants to drop the whole thing for the time being, but she needs to finish what she started, to not leave it hanging between them.

“Given that, though, I do want to take the job.” She takes a moment to gauge her wife’s reaction, and when she sees that Liara’s all right, she continues. “Look, I’m done with nearly getting killed and with scaring the hell out of the woman I love.” She pauses for a quick kiss before she continues. “But being a solider is an element of who I am. I’m good at it. I like being good at it, and this feels like a way to do that without the parts neither of us want in our lives anymore.”

“I can understand that. I always knew who it was that I fell in love with. But, Shepard, are you sure this would be healthy for you? You still have bad nights and I do not want you to do anything that would make it worse.”

Liara’s right. They’re not as frequent as it used to be, but there are definitely times when the dead won’t let her rest. “And you are very good to me those nights. But it’s not the memories of the fighting that keep me up. You know that.”

“I do. But I still want to be sure that this will not be a problem for you.”

“Look, I don’t think it will be, but if it is, I’ll stop.”

“I know you. It is not in your nature to quit.”

She sighs. Admitting weakness has never been something she’s good at, especially with anyone besides her wife. “All right. How about… how about I agree in advance that if you think it’s making things worse, I’ll walk away, no arguments?”

At last, the asari’s smile returns. “Very well, Ashara. As you once told me, we do have to keep each other honest.”


	4. First Day

Watching Ashara buckle on the final pieces of her familiar blue and grey armor, Liara’s thoughts wander briefly back to their first meeting on Therum, five years and a lifetime ago. Even in her frightened state, trapped and pursued by the Geth, the sight of Shepard standing there in full combat gear, strong and confidant, had been enough to make her heart flutter. It still is, the information broker thinks as Shepard ties her long, blonde hair back into a ponytail.

Indeed, between their reunion on Illium, their kiss after defeating the Shadow Broker, and the tender meld they shared before the final push on Earth, a number of their most indelible moments together have come while Shepard was in armor and a part of Liara wants to see if she can tempt her back out of that armor before she leaves. It would hardly be right for her to make her wife late for her first day though, so she settles for a little teasing instead.

“As gallant as you look right now, love, perhaps I should be concerned about some of the impressionable maidens you’ll be teaching throwing themselves at you.”

Ashara laughs and brushes her gloved fingers over Liara’s cheek. “Don’t worry. You know you’re the only maiden I want.”

“I do. But that does not mean we cannot reemphasize the point when you get home tonight.” With that, Liara wraps her arms around her wife, kissing her deeply, and as their tongues dance together, she touches Ashara’s mind for an instant, sending the human an image of herself with her head buried between Shepard’s naked thighs.

“Well,” Ashara replies as the vision fades, her face slightly flushed, “I guess I’ll have to make sure not to be out too late.”

After a quick follow-up kiss, Shepard turns to leave, and as she does, the asari smiles after her. She’s been pleased at how upbeat her wife’s mood has been in the weeks preceding the start of this new job, but Liara still wanted to put a good thought in her head before she left today, just in case.

 

The drive to the training facility takes Ashara through downtown Kosia. Aethyta had long argued that the asari needed to be shaken out of their complacency, and though no sane person could have wanted it to happen the way that it did, the war has certainly had that effect. Everywhere homes, businesses, and infrastructure are under construction, new designs and alien influences competing with traditional styles. There’ve been times when she’s come into the city, alone or with Liara, and just sat, watching it rise from the ashes, a reminder that as much as was destroyed, the sacrifices that so many made weren’t in vain.

When her skycar reaches the base, she’s quickly ushered inside past the large crowd waiting outside, those assembled hoping for a glimpse of her or perhaps one of the other dignitaries here to mark the occasion. As they make their way through the building, it’s clear it’s been built to serve as a showpiece for the new Thessia. Gleaming surfaces and the newest equipment are everywhere, and the great hall they arrive at, with it’s soaring ceilings and impressive collection of art from numerous species lining the walls, serves both to signal the asari government’s commitment to the project and to reflect the spirit of cooperation it is supposed to embody.

Also signaling that importance is the presence of Councilor Tevos on the speaker’s platform, the diplomat wearing a dark blue and red dress that, while not a uniform, is definitely designed to project a martial air. “It is good to see you again in person, Commander. We’re honored by your willingness to help us rebuild our military.”

Her own feelings on seeing Tevos are more complicated. The Council was a constant source of frustration during her time as a Specter and the day she’d arrived on the Citadel after the Reapers hit Earth and they had still refused to help, it had taken every ounce of discipline she’d possessed to refrain from putting a biotic fist through every one of their faces.

Since the war, Ashara’s tried to let go of that anger. The Council did finally throw their support behind the Crucible, and in her role as a negotiator, she has to deal with them on a somewhat frequent basis. Tevos at least hasn’t tried to justify her past mistakes, which is more than she can say for Valern; every time she has to listen that weasel pretend there was nothing he could have done differently, a part of her wishes that Thane had been a little bit slower during the Cerberus coup.

“I’m just glad we’re not in mortal danger this time, Councilor. It makes a nice change from most of our meetings.”  
That manages to elicit a small smile from the asari. “Indeed. Of course, it is thanks to you that I survived on some of those occasions.”

Ashara simply nods, silently acknowledging the olive branch. There’s no need to dwell further on the past; today is about a new beginning. The plan is for Tevos to make a brief statement, and then for Shepard to take some questions before going to meet her class. In deference to her distaste for the press, the Q&A will be kept short, but the asari government does want to showcase her involvement in this new initiative and, as she learned all too well during the war, a good idea without support doesn’t count for much. 

Once they’re ready, the dignitaries and military officials are shown into the hall, followed by a sea of reporters. Most of those present are asari, though there’s a smattering of other races there as well, including several humans.

“For many centuries,” Tevos begins when the audience has taken their seats, “The common belief among the asari was that our species was strong enough to stand on our own. We worked with the other Council races, true, but we believed that it was they who required our guidance, that we alone possessed a superior wisdom sufficient to handle any situation that might arise.”

“The Reaper invasion taught us otherwise. The same approach to combat that had served our people well on many previous occasions proved wholly inadequate against the horror that we faced, and we were forced to come to the difficult realization that no one species has a monopoly on knowledge. The time has come for the asari to be more open to the insights of the rest of the galaxy, whether in science, in politics, or in war.”

“It is that last, an unfortunate but still vital area of study that we turn our attention to today. Though the shadow of the Reapers has thankfully passed, there will always be dangers in the galaxy, and who better to help us prepare to face them than the human without who’s heroism none of us would be here? That is why it is with great pride that I introduce as the chief instructor of the Talon Five Infantry Academy a woman who in truth needs no introduction, Ashara Shepard.”

Shepard had insisted on the name for the school as a tribute to the soldiers who had sacrificed their lives so that she could reach the Temple of Athame that fateful day. Her failure and the subsequent fall of Thessia were among the worst moments of her life, and even now, looking at the armored asari providing security, it’s hard not to see the faces of those who’d died while she’d watched, unable to save them.

As a round of applause fills the air, Ashara pushes aside the memories and forces herself to smile. “It’s good to be here today. As all of you know, I’ve been priviledged to work quite closely with a number of asari over the last few years.”

There’s more than a smattering of laughs and she continues, “Their help has been invaluable to me, and I just want to say that  
I’m glad to able to return the favor, offering what assistance I can to a people who mean a great deal to me. I’ll take a few of your questions now.”

“Commander Shepard, Risalla Jinai, Thessia Today. Is this project something you’re seriously committed to, or is your presence here merely symbolic, a way of mustering public support for what has been a controversial change in military doctrine?”

“This project is something I believe in or I wouldn’t have agreed to take the job. I’ve always been more interested in results than symbolism, and my work here is no exception.”

“Commander Shepard, Jack Springer, GCC News. Between your marrying an asari and working for their government, what do you say to those critics back on Earth who feel that you’ve turned your back on them?”

Sometimes, Ashara can’t believe that she made it through the war without punching any of these people. “Seriously? I’m not sure which critics you’re referring to, and I suspect that very few people would ask that question unless they were looking to generate controversy for the sake of ratings. What I’ve done for Earth speaks for itself and my marriage is not a political statement.”

“Well said, Shepard; Thalia Gevros, Galactic Beat. If I may ask, is it true that you and Doctor T’Soni are expecting a baby, and if so, when is she due?”

Liara has pulled some strings with the local government to keep the paparazzi from living camped outside their house, and right now she can truly appreciate that service. Still, if she survived the Reaper War, she can survive the press for a little while, and so she deeps a deep breath and slogs through, the image Liara left in her head providing some solace as she deals with the barrage of inane questions.

 

After about ten more minutes of aggravation, the press conference mercifully ends and she’s off to meet her students. She’s going to be teaching two groups. The larger one consists of several thousand recruits, the backbone of the new infantry being assembled, and it will drill on the large open fields behind the facility. That class doesn’t begin for a few more days, and because of it’s size, she’ll be overseeing an number of other instructors, mostly turian and human officers she and Garrus helped the asari to pick out and sign up.

The second group is who she’s meeting now. It’s made up of a few dozen asari, all veterans of the Reaper War who are here for advanced training, officers who’ll either become teachers when their studies are completed, or bring what they’ve learned to back to their units. There are few enough of them that she’s been able to look over each of their dossiers individually and though she doubts she’ll ever work with a team quite as skilled as the crew of the Normandy, it’s still quite the impressive group.

As she strides through the double doors of the training room, a reverent hush settles over the assembled students. It’s a reaction she’s gotten somewhat used to over the last two and a half years, but it’s also not something that’s going to work here. 

She needs these soldiers to be willing to give her their best shots in training, and that won’t happen if they see her an unapproachable legend. It’s for that reason more than technical accuracy that when a dark blue-skinned asari, Cellia, if she remembers the file photos correctly, leads the class in jumping to attention and saluting her as “Commander Shepard,” she smiles disarmingly at the group, and corrects her. “Just Shepard now.”


	5. Free Time

Ashara hadn’t expected to be free this early. After a morning meeting with her assistants, the bulk of her day was supposed to have been spent with the more advanced students, but they’re late coming back from a training exercise off-world and so it’s barely past noon when she lands her car in the garage.

Heading upstairs, she’s surprised that Liara doesn’t greet her. It’s possible that her wife went out, but at this time of the day, the information broker is usually hard at work and her office is close enough to the garage door to notice when someone comes in. Before Shepard can speculate further though, she hears a soft moan coming from the living room and a familiar voice calling out her name not in greeting but in pleasure.

A grin spreading across her face, she completes her climb as quietly as she can manage. She’s no Kasumi, but she’s stealthy enough when she wants to be and, making it into the living room undetected, she finds Liara laying on the big white leather sofa there. Her bondmate’s face is flushed, one hand is down her unbuttoned pants, and the other is running over her breasts, clad in a purple tank-top.

An involuntary purr escapes Shepard’s lips at the sight in front of her, and a startled Liara looks up at the sound, slightly chagrined at being caught. At the same time though, there’s still a gleam of arousal in the asari’s bright blue eyes and Ashara finds her mind going to interesting places.

“No need to stop,” she informs her wife and, sitting down on the couch, she guides Liara’s hand back between her legs. The asari blushes, but when Shepard reassures her, “Trust me,” she lets her fingers resume their interrupted work. Shepard rests her hand on top of her lover’s and as the human feels Liara touch herself, her digits tracing small circles over the head of her clit, heat starts to spread through her body. Leaning over, she asks in a sultry whisper, “I heard you say my name. What were you thinking about?”

Liara’s voice is thick with desire, breathing the words out through her pleasure. “Before Ilos. Our first time.”

“Mm,” Shepard sighs, her free hand sliding under Liara’s top, massaging her firm breasts. “Remembering that got night me through a lot of lonely times without you.”

She feels Liara’s chest rising and falling more rapidly under her touch, and she continues. “Alone on the Normandy, I’d get into that big bed and I’d remember how good it was.” She rolls a blue nipple between her fingers. “The way your naked body looked when I saw it for the first time. How you gasped when I tasted you…”

“Goddess, Ashara!” Her wife’s eyes darken as a shiver of pleasure runs through her and she touches her hand to Shepard’s cheek, her voice full of need. “Show me.”

Shepard opens her thoughts, but as Liara’s mind joins with hers, what happens next isn’t the normal melding that accompanies their lovemaking. She can feel Liara’s fingers resting against her clit, but the sensation is distant, the asari’s focus instead on Shepard’s memories, sifting through them until she finds the one she’s looking for. An image of the two of them standing in Shepard’s cabin on the SR-1 comes to the forefront of Ashara’s mind and the asari delves into it, moment after moment of one of the best nights of their lives becoming incredibly vivid in their shared thoughts…

_…“Just tell me what to do.”_

_As Shepard said those words, Liara threw her arms around her and kissed her for the first time. She was inexperienced, uncertain what to do with her tongue as their lips parted, but her enthusiasm was evident and the heat as their mouth’s met overwhelmed any doubts Ashara had about whether the young asari wanted this, wanted her…._

_…Shepard’s hands found the zipper beneath Liara’s crest and as the scientist covered her neck in kisses, the commander slowly pulled it down, the fabric falling away to expose the pale blue skin beneath. Shepard’s hands slid underneath, caressing the exotic texture of Liara’s body before peeling the jumpsuit off of her shoulders, and as the garment pooled at the asari’s feet, Liara was left standing before her in only a pair of plain white underwear. Her body was slightly alien, hairless with patterns of scales, but also familiar somehow, it’s curves incredibly alluring to the Specter. As her eyes drank in the sight before her in, Liara started to cover herself with her arms, suddenly self-conscious._

_“The way that you are starring at me. Is everything all right?”_

_“It’s fine. You’re just so lovely, Liara.”_

_“I have seldom thought of myself that way. Do you truly…”_

_“God, yes, I do. You are the most beautiful thing I’ve ever seen.”_

_The asari let her arms fall to her sides again, stepping into Shepard’s embrace, the warmth of her skin igniting the commander’s nerves even through the material of her uniform. Her hands went to the buttons of Shepard’s shirt and…_

…Across their bond, Ashara senses her wife begin moving her fingers over her clit again, generating a sympathetic throbbing in her own body. “Yes,” Liara sends, “I want to feel you touch yourself,” and Shepard moves her hand from Liara’s breasts, unbuttoning her own pants, and sliding down to her wet center…

_…She was so wet, aching desperately for Liara’s mouth on her, but as her new lover lay between her legs, she let her take her time getting to know her body._

_“I did not know humans had hair down there,” Liara sent across the joining. “It is fascinating, but it makes it somewhat difficult to determine what I am doing.”_

_She stroked Liara’s crest with her hand. “Don’t worry. Try to mimic what I just did. We seem relatively similar, and I think you can sense when you find... ah.”_

_Before she could finish her thought, Liara’s eager tongue moved up Ashara’s inner thigh, running over her folds._

_“Yes, that… a little higher, ah… right there...” Her head tilted back, crying out as Liara found her center, the warmth of her mouth satisfying Shepard’s urgent craving…_

_…Shepard’s fingers press inside of her, her palm rubbing against her clit, and through her other hand, she can feel Liara’s digits moving more rapidly over herself as their remembering races forward…_

_…Liara lay on top of her, her fingers curling inside Shepard even as the Specter’s hand rubbed her clitoris, the pleasure cresting in both of them. “Goddess, Ashara, I have never…”_

_“Neither have I. Not like this.”_

_The love and affection they share without words, the immediate feedback to every movement and touch, Liara’s pleasure mixing with her own, blurring the lines between them; it really is like nothing she’s ever felt before. Blue sparks illuminate the darkness of the room, and as their bodies press against each other, she feels Liara peaking, the rush of ecstasy across the bond pulling Shepard along with her…_

…Ashara comes hard around her fingers, just as she feels Liara’s release take her as well, her wife’s fingers tangling in her hair, the memory of bliss combining with the sensations of now in an incredible orgasm. Looking at her wife’s arching form, the memory of that night wavers and then returns, the remembered thrill of new love merging with the practiced passion they feel for each other now.

As the past recedes, Shepard beams down at Liara, her voice still ragged as she breathes, “Well, that was… different.”

“I thought that you might enjoy it.” Ashara pulls her hand out of her pants, still sticky, and Liara takes it, sucking gently on her fingers.

Shepard gasps and the asari smiles at her. “You know how much I love your taste.”

“So do I.” She brings Liara’s hand to her mouth and reciprocates before lying down on the couch next to her bondmate, the lovers just holding each other for a few minutes before Ashara breaks the silence.

“So, why were you so unoccupied in the middle of the afternoon anyway?”

Liara kisses her affectionately before she responds. “The pace of my work can be uneven at times. It was simply a quiet day. What about you?”

“My afternoon group got held up off-world. Some mechanical thing at the spaceport.”

“Mm, well, that was a fortunate coincidence.”

“Definitely,” she laughs. “So, since clearly neither of us have anything better to do, how about going out for a late lunch?”

“That sounds lovely. And perhaps some desert later…”

Ashara’s green eyes light up with amusement. After all, five years ago, before their first time, Liara had trouble picking up on double entendres, let along making them.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A brief naughty interlude before more of the big plot starts to be revealed next chapter. The time shifting here was somewhat experimental, so I’m curious as to how people thought it worked.


	6. Taken By Surprise

The shockwave rips through the air, hurling rocks and branches towards her with the force of a hurricane, but even as the blast leaves her attacker’s hand, Shepard is already in motion, diving behind the only available cover. The stone wall absorbs the brunt of the assault, and before her target can launch a second one, she’s rising, hurling a focused globe of biotic energy that catches the smaller woman with her defenses largely down, knocking her to the dirt.

“And that,” Ashara explains, taking off her helmet, “Is why you have to modify your tactics if the enemy is prepared for your attack.” Reaching a hand down, she helps Jack to her feet before turning back to their students. “If I didn’t know she was there, an-all out strike like that would knock down my barriers and open me up for a finishing blow. Since I was prepared though, the first attack failed, and with Jack having already committed everything she had to offense, she was the one left vulnerable.”

The students nod, seeming to take her point. She’ll see; the hard part will be unlearning their bad habits in practice. “Okay. 30 minute lunch break, and when we get back, pair off and take turns attacking and defending.”

Ashara and Jack sit down on the hill overlooking the practice field, watching their students mingle as they eat. “You okay, Jack?”

“Shit, Shepard, I’ve been hit harder than that for foreplay. Still, I admit you’ve still got the moves. Nice to know getting regularly well-laid hasn’t made you go soft.”

Ashara laughs. “Thanks, I guess. Speaking of Liara, she asked if you’re coming over for dinner.”

“Why? Blue making something?”

“Hah, no, her culinary experience mostly consisted of cooks as a kid and then opening up ration packs on digs. We’ll order in.”

“Whatever, as long it’s not chef’s surprise.” There’s a pause. “Anyway, thanks for the invite; for me and for the kids.”

Shepard knows gratitude has never come easy to Jack, so she avoids making a big deal of it. “I thought it’d be good for both of our students. It’s helpful to train against people you don’t know sometimes.”

“True enough. You still in touch with the rest of the old gang?”

“A lot of them. A few like Zaeed and Kasumi disappeared, but I hear from most of the rest.”

“So how is everybody?”

A mixed bag, she thinks with a sigh. For every Ashley or Wrex who’re happy, there’re others like Joker and Javik that seem lost. “Depends on who you’re talking about, I guess.”

“Grunt?”

“He’s good. Wrex made him a general about six months back. Got a few kids with a few mothers from what I hear.”

“Heh. Good for him. How about Jacob? He still playing house with that doctor?”

“No,” she shakes her head regretfully. “They broke up a few months ago. He re-enlisted with the Alliance.” She’d been taken off-guard by that development. He’d seemed so devoted to Brynn when they’d talked on the Citadel, but she supposes that the realities of the corporate security job he’d walked away from hadn’t been what they’d seemed when peace was just a dream.

Jack, on the other hand, is unsurprised. “Figures,” she snorts. “He acted superior, but underneath, he always was an adrenaline junky. I can spot ‘em a mile away. What about Garrus and Tali?”

“Honestly? Not great either. I don’t know… ” The last time she’d talked to the turian, he’d been evasive but she could tell their relationship was on the rocks. Maybe Ashley will know more; she and Tali are particularly close.

“So much for finding true fucking love on the Normandy. Just you and blue I guess.”

“Not quite. Ken and Gabby are doing well; they’re both working for Alliance R&D, with a daughter last year and a son on the way.”

“God, I’m just glad they finally fucked. I had to listen to them bickering all the goddamn time up in engineering. You ever seen two people who just needed to shut up and get it on more than those two?”

Ashara can’t resist the dig. “I don’t know. How about you and Miranda?”

It’s a joke, but when Jack can’t meet her gaze, the former Specter nearly doubles over laughing. “Seriously? You two?”

“Fuck you. It just happened. She was bringing some biotic refugees to the school and we just... We were talking about the old days, some shit about Zaeed I think, and we’d had a few drinks, so of course we started arguing. I don’t know… I needed to shut her up was all.”

“That was your solution?”

“Well, it was either kiss her or put her through a wall and, shit, that would’ve set a bad example for the kids. After that, things kinda happened fast. Turns out the cheerleader can be pretty aggressive when she wants something.”

“And…”

“And it was fucking fantastic. Did you want details?”

“Not like that. I mean, are you two together now?” It’s a pretty weird idea for Ashara to contemplate, and before she can really do so, Jack shrugs.

“The fuck do you think? Just cause the sex was good doesn’t mean we could stand each other the next morning. Not everyone’s you and Liara, all right. It doesn’t always turn out roses and candles and shit. Sometime’s, it’s just screwing.”

I’m sorry, Jack. I shouldn’t have assumed.”

“Don’t sweat it, Shep. I’m feeling good, I’ve got my kids, and we stopped the Reapers from turning us all into slurry. Life could be a hell of a lot worse.”

 

What makes this strange is that nobody else is even supposed to be here. Ondren is well off the beaten track, accessible through a relay that has only recently been opened, and as far as Doctor Joshua Steinman knows, he and his fellow researchers are the only people to visit it since the explorers that found the planet in the first place. They had reported that the temperate, mostly aquatic world is potentially fit for human habitation despite the storms that plague it, and so ExoGeni has sent him and his people to do a more detailed survey.

What they didn’t report was any native life more intelligent than the flying creatures dubbed needlers, a sort of cross  
between a stingray and a predatory bird that’s about as smart as a cat. None the less, when the researchers had started seeing strange shapes watching them from beyond the edge of their camp, heretofore undiscovered natives had remained a possibility; the initial survey had been brief, and something could have been missed. Yesterday, though, Jarod, their communications specialist, had picked up encrypted chatter, which meant outsiders; a group of stone age sentient beings might have been missed, but not an advanced civilization.

If someone else was trying to stake a claim on this planet, they needed to know about it, and so when the storms had abated somewhat, their security team had headed out to investigate. Sitting in his temporary shelter, trying to focus on his notes on local flora, Steinman’s starting to worry that they haven’t checked in yet. The weather can interfere with communications at times, but even still, he expects to have heard something after three hours and he’s getting nervous. This expedition is a big career moment for him and the corporation doesn’t take kindly to failure.

Screw reading fungus studies; he’s calling. Donning his rain parka and boots, he heads out towards Jarod’s tent. The storm has worsened again, and he can barely see five feet in front of his face as trudges through the mud, the wind and rain lashing at his face. 

He’s almost at his destination when he realizes something’s wrong. The tent flaps are open, and when he manages to get a look inside, his heart jumps into overdrive. Inside, Jarod’s dead, the salarian lying slumped over the transmitter, green blood leaking from a hole in his head.

The security team! He has to get them back now. He nearly trips over a portable generator in his haste, sprinting to the communications station, the corpse falling out of the chair when he pushes it to one side.

Fiddling inexpertly with the transmitter, his voice is a scream, filled with the desperate hope that someone is on the other end. “Major Cochran! Major Cochran! This is base camp. Do you copy?”

There’s only static at the other end of the line and Steinman feels the panic start to overtake him. What if they’ve killed the whole security team as well? He needs to evacuate the camp, to get to the shuttle. Is there anyone even left alive to evacuate? Outside, the thunder crashes, and between the noise and his own fear, the doctor is so distracted that when the bullet enters the back of his head, he doesn’t even have enough warning to scream.


	7. Commitment

She finds Ashara on her knees, planting tomatoes in the garden. Her wife finds it a soothing hobby, making things grow. Liara prefers taking things out of the dirt to putting them in, but since it makes Shepard happy, she’s happy for her. Now, though, the news she’s bringing is anything but soothing.

“Ashara.”

“Hey.” Shepard pulls off her gloves and wipes the sweat from her forehead. She’s wearing a warm smile, but it fades as soon as she gets a glimpse of the concern written all over the asari’s face. “What’s wrong, Liara?” 

She pauses for an instant before she speaks, but there’s no way to avoid what Liara has to tell her. “It’s Zaeed, Shepard. He’s dead.”

 

One week earlier…

“Come out and die, Massani!”

Vido’s voice rings out over the sound of bullets ricocheting off of the forklift they’re sheltering behind. It’s taken Zaeed a year to track the son of a bitch down, a year of near misses and dead ends, and now that he’s found him, the job has gone straight to shit. It doesn’t matter how they screwed up but somehow, they did. The Blue Suns knew they were coming to the shipyard and when they got to the hanger, there were a whole hell of a lot more men than they expected waiting for them.

In response to the footsteps coming from their right, Pularch ducks out from behind cover, hurling a fragmentation grenade into the midst of the squad moving to flank them. He and the old turian are all that’s left of their team. The other human and the two batarians they hired are already dead, and with the turian’s left arm hanging limp and Zaeed’s side burning from that fucking vorcha’s flamethrower, the two of them are halfway there.

The mercenaries scatter away from the grenade and Zaeed snarls as he fires his Matlock, clipping two of the ones who escape the explosion before they make it out of his line of fire, retreating back into the maze of shipping containers they came out of. “You always did have a shitty eye for talent Vido. Bunch of goddamn amateurs.”

It’s an instant too late when he realizes that the attack was a diversion. By the time he spots the sniper, he’s in position, and though the burst from Zaeed’s assault rifle takes the man in the chest, he’s already squeezed off a shot. Pularch slumps down next to him, warm blue blood spraying from his neck onto Zaeed. “Goddamn it,” he mutters under his breath, the smoke from the grenades stinging his lungs. “Stay with me, you bastard.”

There’s no response but the mocking sound of Vido’s laughter. “Not so tough without that bitch Shepard to hide behind, are you? I thought you’d retired. Guess you should have stayed out of the business.”

He growls, tossing an incendiary grenade in the direction of the noise. Does that bloodless bastard really think he could have let it go? “That’s your goddamn problem, Vido. You never got that some things are more than just business.”

“My problem? You must be going senile, old man. You’re the one who’s about to die.” He turns to his men. “Rush him, boys. There’s five thousand credits for whoever brings me his fucking scalp.”

From across the room, he hears the stampede of the mercenaries’ boots heading towards his position, their greed overcoming their fear. As they approach, Zaeed reaches into his pocket, a lance of pain shooting through his torso as his hand closes around a small metal insurance policy. Three years ago, he was cheated out of his revenge. Not this time. Despite this disaster of a battle, Vido isn’t getting away from him again.

He steals a glance at the shuttle, and his thumb plays across the detonator. Maybe, just maybe, he always wanted it to come to this. After all, what was he really going to do if he killed Vido and walked away? Go back to that fucking beach?

 

For a minute, it feels as if she can’t breath. It’s not that Zaeed was her friend; honestly, he was a son of a bitch. It doesn’t matter though. He was one of the people who’d walked through hell with her, who’d covered her back when she needed it most, and now, like so many others, he’s gone.

“How,” she manages to ask.

Liara bends down, her arms wrapping around Shepard’s neck, her warmth comforting the human while her voice remains calm and precise. “A week ago, there was a massive explosion at a shipyard on Illium owned by the Blue Suns. The bodies found there were too badly burned for a visual ID, but genetic tests were preformed.”

“And it was Zaeed?”

“Yes. Along with Vido Santiago, among almost thirty others.”

Vido. She’d suspected as much when Zaeed disappeared. “Damn it all to hell. Just how badly did he need his revenge?”

“He needed it even more than you know, love. The explosion came from a massive bomb on his shuttle. The police on Illium believe…”

“I can guess what they believe.” Zaeed must have detonated it in order to make sure that Vido would die. A tear runs wet down her cheek, her voice slightly frantic as she asks, “Did I do this, Liara? I let Vido get away on Zorya.”

Her wife kneels down next to her. “You told me that the workers at the refinery would have burned to death if you had not.”

“But if I’d only been faster… I should’ve been able to stop Vido and save them. I should’ve saved all of them…”

 

Sitting in the dirt, holding Ashara as she sobs, Liara’s heart aches. She fought countless battles and endured terrible losses but she doesn’t carry the same burden Shepard does. She didn’t spend every day of the war choosing who lived and who died, deciding which losses were acceptable and which weren’t. Her bondmate has come so far in making her peace with the consequences of her actions since the end of the war, and a part of Liara is furious with Zaeed for bringing all of the guilt and loss back up again.

“It is not your fault, love,” she says quietly. “Zaeed made his choice. He did not have to go after Vido. You did not do this.”

She repeats those last words over and over, running her fingers through her lover’s hair, until Shepard stops crying. The former Specter wipes away her tears, looking slightly ashamed of her breakdown. “I’m sorry, Liara. I didn’t mean to collapse like that. I don’t want to worry you.”

The asari kisses Shepard tenderly. “Do not say that. You are my bondmate. You know that you never have to apologize for leaning on me.”

“I… I do know. It’s just, you’ve been so happy that I’ve been feeling better, and I want you to stay that way.”

Liara rests her head against Shepard’s white tank top, the human’s hand stroking her crest a comfort to both of them. “Being with you is what makes me happy, no matter how you are feeling. The past follows all of us. Zaeed lost himself to it. You do not have to.”

Ashara exhales, and pulls her arms tight around Liara. “I won’t. Not with you here. I just wish we could finally stop paying the price for that damn war.”

“One day at a time, Ashara.” She traces kisses along her wife’s sternum. “We will get through this together.”

“We always have.” Shepard gets to her feet, brushing the dust from her clothes. “Let’s go see to the funeral arrangements. I don’t imagine he’s got a lot of other people to do it for him. Whatever Zaeed was, he was also one of us, and I owe him that much.”


	8. Digging Two Graves

“Zaeed Massani was a warrior.”

Samara’s voice carries out clear and serene over the small group gathered to pay their respects but Ashara’s thoughts are still drifting back to the day when it was the Justicar that she’d nearly had to bury. On Kallini, watching the asari raise her pistol to her own temple, Shepard had been almost as angry as she was concerned. Mordin and Thane had only recently sacrificed themselves and the contrast with Samara’s pointless attempt to kill herself in front of her already-traumatized daughter had been infuriating. Thankfully, Shepard had been fast enough that day. Not like on Zorya.

“The causes to which he lent his arms were not always righteous. Had we met under other circumstances, we could have been enemies. Fate decreed otherwise and I consider myself fortunate that it did. The Collectors were a foe worthy of his considerable talents and in the battles that we fought together, he proved himself to be steadfast, brave, and capable. It was my privilege to serve beside him.”

“For some warriors, peace does not come easily, especially not if there are enemies still to be vanquished. I once told Commander Shepard that I would not die in bed. I am no longer certain if that is true, but it was for Zaeed. It is not for me to say whether or not he should have pursued his foe to the end that he did but I understand his choice. Now it is finished. May he find peace in the embrace of the Goddess.”

As the old asari takes her seat, Jack stands to speak. Her leather jacket and jeans are something less than formal, but Ashara feels that Zaeed would approve.

The powerful biotic shifts uncomfortably at the podium. “Shit, I never know what to say at times like these. Probably shouldn’t curse at a funeral either, but fuck it, he wouldn’t have cared.” She nods in the direction of the closed casket. “That’s why I liked him. Most people are full of crap. They act like they’re better than they are, like they don’t want what they want or think what they think.”

Shepard swears that Jack’s eyes meet Miranda’s for an uncomfortable instant before she continues. “That wasn’t Zaeed. If he wanted to get drunk, he found a bottle. If you pissed him off, he kicked some ass. And if you were full of crap, he didn’t sugarcoat it.”

“He wasn’t a saint. Hell, I once saw him crack a turian’s mandible in half in a bar here on Illium for talking shit about some rifle Zaeed loved. But you know what? A lot of us aren’t perfect, and I’d like to think that helping to save the galaxy earns you a little slack. I hope they’re pouring a drink for you wherever you are Zaeed, and I’ll have one for you down here just in case they’re not.”

Grunt is typically brief. “Massani was a good comrade. He taught me about napalm, and he showed me how to make an “Omega Twister.” He may have been a human, but he would have been a good krogan. He slew many foes, and won many battles, and he died killing a worthy enemy.” He chuckles. “Better to kill them and live, but this was good too.”

And then it’s her turn. She’s been debating what to say for days now, but Jack’s right. Zaeed would want the truth. “Before we worked together, I knew very little about Zaeed. He was supposed to be the deadliest mercenary in the Terminus Systems, and he’d taken a small fortune from Cerberus to work for me; that was about it. When we met, he was beating a batarian who owed his employer money and when I went with him to Zorya, he wanted to let a group of refinery workers burn to death so he could kill Vido Santiago. Those things matter and I didn’t like him very much back then. I think he grew over time, but I’m not sure I ever would have called him a friend.”

“And yet.” She pauses, thinking of what she told Liara when she got the news. “He was one of us. He distinguished himself with his courage and his skill, and after the job that he was paid for was finished and the Collectors were destroyed, he didn’t take his money and leave. His help saved a turian colony and brought the Volus fleet into our armada, and when the final battle was fought on Earth, he was in the thick of it. That matters too.”

“Twenty-six hundred years ago, there was a Greek named Aeschylus who was one of the greatest playwrights humanity every produced. He won every prize his people could give him, and even today, his work lives on. When he died though, there was only one deed that he wanted remembered, and it wasn’t any of the plays he wrote. On his tombstone, it simply gives his name, where he came from, and says, ‘Of his noble prowess the grove of Marathon can speak, and the long-haired Persian knows it well.’ That he fought in that battle, against the invaders who came to his homeland, meant more to him than anything else he had accomplished. And so, whatever else Zaeed’s life contained, let his epitaph say: ‘he served on the Normandy.’”

 

The reception that follows is small. Liara used her contacts on Illium to arrange for a discrete release of the body and the event was not made public. Even among the Normandy crew, only those who had served when it was a Cerberus ship really knew Zaeed, and not all of them are even there. Kasumi remains missing, and Tali is absent as well, a fact that the asari is acutely conscious of as she joins Garrus at the buffet.

“Liara.” He sounds tired. “It’s been a while.”

She gives him a small hug. “Too long. I am glad that you were able to come.”

“But you’re wondering why Tali isn’t here. What, the Shadow Broker doesn’t already know?” It’s the kind of crack she’d expect from the turian, but his tone is flat, his usual good humor absent.

“My network is not what it once was.” 

“Well, then I should tell you we broke up. Tali just went back to the Normandy. Didn’t know what else to do, I guess.”

Liara completes the reasoning almost automatically. “And Ashley told Shepard that she had a mission chasing pirates in the Armstrong Nebula. What happened?”

He shakes his head. “I screwed up and I hurt her.”

“How, Garrus? I cannot imagine that you would do such a thing.”

“Didn’t do it on purpose. It’s just… You know the way you look at Shepard? The way she looks at you? It just wasn’t like that for me with Tali. I wanted it to be, but it wasn’t.”

“Then why did you decide to…”

“Because the world was ending and neither of us wanted to be alone if it did. But then we lived and at first it was okay. We’ve been friends for years. I enjoy spending time with her. And even though the passion wasn’t there, Tali didn’t know any better. At least not at first.”

Liara understands. After the first time she and Shepard made love, she had told Ashara that it was incredible. It had been a compliment, but also the literal truth. Without prior experience, she found it hard to believe how good her lover had made her feel. If it had been otherwise, how would she have known that wasn’t right? The joining might have let her sense if Ashara’s heart hadn’t been in it, but that did not apply to Tali.

“She figured it out eventually though. Not much else to say. We fought, she left. I told her that for whatever it’s worth, I feel like shit about it but right now she’s pretty pissed off. Rannoch, me, all of it; she thought it would be different if we won. I guess I did too.”

“I am very sorry, Garrus. If there is anything Shepard and I can do for you, you know that you only need to ask.”

“Thanks. I’ve been working on war relief but Palaven’s finally out of intensive care, so I’m kinda between gigs right now. Maybe I’ll stop by Thessia for a little while, see if Shepard could use a guest instructor at that academy she’s running. It might be good to get a change of scenery.”

“I am sure she would be glad to have your help. And Garrus, do not be too hard on yourself. I know that you did not mean for this to happen and some day, I think Tali will understand.”

 

Ashara’s not sure she’d even want to be able to shrug things off the way Grunt does, but sitting at the bar with him, his good mood is cheering her up none the less. 

“That was a good speech, Shepard. Never heard of Aeschylus, though.” The krogan takes a swig of his Omega Twister, a noxious-looking concoction containing whisky, soda, a lemon, and some kind of dark, fizzy batarian liquor.

“I think you’d like his plays, Grunt. They’re all about bloody revenge and war.”

“Heh. Sounds good. You humans do have pretty decent art.”

“Shepard, may I speak to you?”

She turns at the sound of Miranda’s voice. “Sure. Give me a few minutes, Grunt.”

They find a quiet corner and Miranda takes out a data pad. “I’ve completed the analysis you asked me to perform.” After her last physical, Ashara sent the records to her former XO, asking her to cross-check them with the results of the Lazarus Project and work up a long-term prognosis for her.

“Overall, I would agree with your doctor’s opinion that you’re in excellent physical health.”

“Good to hear.”

“There are, however, some things that I should add to her evaluation. The Lazarus Project was focused on the immediate problem of reviving you, but there are two significant longer-term effects. The first, I’m afraid, is not good news. It is unlikely that you will be able to bear children.”

Shepard nods. The doctor on Thessia had thought as much, but though the asari had some familiarity with humans, she had been less than knowledgeable about the subtleties of their reproduction. “I’m sorry, but the damage to your body was probably too extensive even before taking into account the effects of the treatments. It is conceivable that something could be done if you were interested in looking into solutions, but…”

Ashara looks across the room at her wife talking to Samara, somber yet beautiful in her black dress, and she smiles slightly. “I don’t think that’ll be necessary.” There’s only one person she can imagine wanting children with, and she won’t be the one getting pregnant.

“I suspected that might be the case, but I still thought you should know.” There’s a hint of pain behind the returned smile, and Shepard remembers Miranda’s own infertility. Liara had shown her the Shadow Broker’s files years ago, when the asari thought she needed as much information as possible on the relative strangers watching her back, but today, it feels slightly invasive that she knows.

“The other news is considerably better. In order to restart your body, significant cellular regeneration was required and neural decay had to be prevented during the process. For this purpose, we didn’t just apply one-time treatments. You were implanted with a range of nano-machines that would, over time, rebuild and repair all of your internal systems. Those machines are still inside you, working, and looking at your blood cultures and other data, there is reason to believe that they will have the effect of significantly extending your projected life-span.”

“How much longer?”

“Perhaps a century beyond the current human average of a hundred and fifty. It’s a rough estimate, and with continuing medical advances, it’s difficult to say what further progress there might be.”

Another hundred years. Maybe more. Plenty of time for… In spite of being with people, she finds herself choking up a bit. “You did… you did a hell of a job, Miranda.”

There is real affection accompanying Miranda’s pride when she replies. “Thank you, Shepard. I’m glad to be able to give you the news. It might interest you to know that my own upgrades are projected to have a similar effect, if not quite as beneficial. Even my father didn’t have four billion credits to spend on his heirs after all.”

Ashara laughs. “Well, it’s good to know you’ll be sticking around for a while too.” 

“Particularly since you seem determined to fill up my time. I’ve just started to examine the artifact you sent.” Miranda consults her data pad. “Let me send you my complete medical report in case you have any…”

There’s a ping from the device and abruptly the former operative’s face changes, irritation and embarrassment spreading across it. “Miranda?”

“The gall of that woman! At a damn funeral!” Ashara scans the room, and when she sees Jack looking fairly pleased with herself, she grins.

“What did she send you?” Miranda blushes, hesitating to answer. “Jack told me what happened with you two. So what was it?”

Her reply is surprisingly quiet. “Her room number.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm not anti-Tali/Garrus; they're happily together in Home Life, but I do think this is one way it could go. The chapter title comes from a Chinese proverb suggested by a reviewer on FF.net: "He who seeks revenge should dig two graves: one for his enemy and one for himself."


	9. A Dream Realized

Draping her dress uniform jacket over a chair, Shepard flops down on the hotel bed. As her body sinks into the soft mattress, Liara rolls over on top of her, her head resting lightly on Ashara’s chest. Wrapping her arms around the asari, she can feel the tensions of a long day already starting to drain away, vanishing into her bondmate’s warmth.

“Are you feeling all right, love?”

“I’m fine. It was a fitting send-off for Zaeed I think. And it was good to see everyone who came.”

“It was, but Shepard, I really think that you should talk to Tali. Garrus is worried about her and she has always looked up to you.”

Ashara sighs. Garrus and Tali were with her almost from the beginning, before even Liara, and they deserve better. “I’ll call when we get back to Thessia. I just wish there was some way I could fix it.” She pauses, setting aside that problem for the moment. “Right now though, there’s something I need to tell you.”

“Is this about your conversation with Miranda?” There’s a nervous note in her wife’s voice. Liara knows about the medical evaluation and Ashara is glad that she can put her fears to rest.

“It is. But don’t worry, it’s good news. Liara, she thinks I might live to be two hundred and fifty.”

“Ashara, I…” The asari’s eyes begin to moisten. “I cannot believe… Is she certain?”

“It’s an estimate, but yeah, she’s pretty sure. And with further advances...”

Before she can say more, Liara kisses her, tears in her eyes while her arms pull tight around Shepard. The asari has been afraid that the opposite might be true, that her resurrection might have been purchased at the cost of some of her future, and Ashara can feel relief and joy in the energy of her wife’s kiss.

“That is… That is the most wonderful news.”

“It is.” She runs her hand down Liara’s back. “And since it’s settled, we can…”

“Ashara, I would have wanted children with you no matter what the results had been.”

She nods, brushing her wife’s tears away. “I understand that but I needed to be sure we knew everything.” She lost her own family before she was grown, and she wanted to find out if she’ll be able to be there for any asari daughters she and Liara might have. Knowing that she will is a huge weight off of her mind. 

“And now we do.”

“Yes, we do. You should also know Miranda told me that I probably won’t be able to have kids myself.” She keeps her tone light as she tells her wife but Liara still expresses concern.

“Shepard, I am sorry to hear that.”

“Don’t be. It doesn’t matter to me.” She takes the asari’s face in her hands, looking deep into her big blue eyes. “There’s only one person I want to have children with.”

Sitting up slightly, she kisses Liara, her tongue sliding into her wife’s mouth, and when their lips break the asari grins at her, mischief playing at the edges of her smile. “Would I be wrong to suspect you would like to start tonight?”

“If you want to. We can wait if you’d rather…”

“We have waited long enough.” She’s right. Years ago, Ashara had promised her lots of little blue children. It had been a dream then, a light at the end of an incredibly long, incredibly dark tunnel that helped keep both of them going. After the war, they had wanted a few years let to things get back to normal and just enjoy being together, but now, it feels like the right time to make that dream a reality.

Ashara purrs as she feels Liara’s tongue trace up her neck and her fingers go to the laces of the asari’s dress. While she’s undoing them though, a question occurs to her. “So, how does this work? I mean, I know the basic idea…”

Liara’s laugh is sweet and light. “You, love, simply have to be your usual…” She gasps as Shepard’s fingers glide between the folds of her crest. “Usual, skillful self. When we join, at the end, I will have to do something different. It is hard to put into words, but I think you will know when I do.”

“I see.” Rolling her wife over onto her back, she begins sliding the black dress down Liara’s body, kissing her skin as it’s uncovered. “That hardly sounds fair.”

“What do you mean?”

Ashara unhooks her dark blue bra, caressing her soft breasts with her hands. “Well, you have to do the work here and you’re also the one who has to go through the pregnancy.”

“I really do not mind…” Ashara closes her mouth around a dark blue nipple, sucking on it, and Liara’s reassurance is replaced with a gasp of delight.

Shepard tilts her face up, smiling, while her fingers tease the slick nub. “I know. But let me thank you anyway.” 

Liara sighs happily. “That, I can definitely do.” Her head leans back onto the pillows as Ashara resumes kissing her way down her body, dipping her tongue into her wife’s navel.

When she reaches her panties, Ashara removes them slowly, taking a moment to enjoy the reveal of skin. The first time she saw Liara naked, she’d been struck by the simplicity of her anatomy. No hair nor folds of skin to navigate; just some darker blue scales framing the prominent head of her clitoris and her opening. It makes sense, she supposes: if you frequently date outside your own species, it’s helpful if your pleasure centers are relatively easy to figure out.

As she begins kissing up Liara’s inner thigh, she feels her wife’s fingers tangle in her long blonde hair. Liara likes her hair; she says it’s very human. Ashara hadn’t thought about it that way before she met her bondmate, but it’s true. No other major species has hair like that and she enjoys when Liara plays with it.

With Liara’s hand urging her on, she begins to lick at those inner scales; they’re exceedingly sensitive, and she’s rewarded with a series of pleasant purrs. She slides her arms around Liara’s legs, letting them rest on her back while she rubs the asari’s torso. Liara’s body arches and as her smooth blue stomach presses against her hands, Ashara can’t help but imagine a daughter growing there, the thought filling her with happiness.

Her tongue moves to Liara’s clit, repeatedly flicking over it and then withdrawing. Liara’s breath hitches every time she does, and when she lets out a little whimper, Shepard stops her teasing, her strokes becoming firmer and more regular.

“Goddess, Ashara… You realize that we will have to be joined if we are to…”

Shepard interrupts her with another movement of her tongue before looking up. “Mm hmm. But I thought I’d take the edge off first and make sure you can concentrate when we do.”

“You do not have to. It is… ah,” Shepard kisses her clit again, “Instinctive.”

She laughs. Honestly, she’d suspected as much, but she wants to do this anyway. “Well, you can just let me pretend then.”

“Whatever you want, love.” Liara grins and Shepard drops her head back down, savoring the taste of her wife, damp and sweet under her tongue. When a particular angle elicits a cry of delight, Ashara keeps at it, a flush of wanting shooting through her own body at the sounds her wife is making. Liara whispers her name over and over as Shepard pleasures her and just as her tongue starts to tire, the words are replaced with a sharp cry, Liara’s thighs clamping around her head. As she writhes around Ashara, the human makes a final few strokes to prolong the climax, relishing each little twitch and gasp she elicits from the beautiful asari, and when she finally feels Liara’s body relax, she looks up with pleasure at the satisfied expression on her bondmate’s face.

She crawls up into her lover’s arms, but as Liara strokes her hair, it’s clear that her orgasm has only increased her ardor. “You,” Liara observes, “Remain heavily overdressed.”

“Well, we’ll have to do something about that.” Liara doesn’t seem particularly patient, because even as Shepard unbuttons her dress shirt, the asari is unfastening her pants, pulling them down over her hips along with her underwear. She tosses the shirt aside and while she removes her bra, Liara runs her hands up her strong legs. Ashara’s already turned on from tasting her wife, and when a blue finger traces over her opening, she gasps, even that light touch making her shudder.

“It appears I was not the only one who got some enjoyment from that.” 

“No,” she breathes. “You know how much I love pleasing you.”

Liara pulls her face close, kissing her passionately. “I do. And it is one of the countless reasons that I want to spend my life with you.”

“I love you so much, Liara. To have these extra years, to have a family with you, it’s more than seemed possible sometimes.”

“I love you too, Ashara.” Liara’s eyes begin to darken. “Together,” she whispers, and Shepard lets her mind open, feeling Liara’s thoughts joining with her own. Even more than usual, she senses the desire for connection, for there to be nothing separating them. Ashara rolls on top of Liara, wrapping her arms around her wife, letting them both enjoy the heat of their skin, of their breasts and legs and lips pressed together.

For a minute, she just runs her hands over Liara, savoring the sensations of bare skin and shared desire, but before long, the asari slides a thigh between her legs. Pressing her soaking core against it feels so nice, especially when Liara’s hands begin pulling at her back and hips, drawing them closer, increasing the friction between them. A small wet tongue runs over her ear, whispering, “Goddess, you feel so good,” and a wave of desire floods through Shepard.

Her wife senses it too, the shared want amplifying her own craving and Ashara can tell that her massaging of Liara’s crest isn’t helping any. There are a hundred sensitive folds and tips there, and as her hand explores them one by one, she can sense a throbbing in Liara, a desperate desire for more of Shepard.

“I need you inside me. Please,” Liara implores with her thoughts, and Ashara can never deny her bondmate when she sounds like that. 

“Of course, my beloved,” she sends, her hand moving down between them. Liara easily accommodates the two fingers that she slides inside the asari. She feels so good, so slick and soft around her hand, and as Ashara begins thrusting inside her, a surge of pleasure reflects back to the human. She needs more now too, and Liara responds, her fingers rubbing against Ashara’s swollen clit. As Liara draws circles on her most sensitive part with her hand, it pushes Shepard close to the brink. The pleasure is incredibly sharp and she doesn’t want it to end, desiring to be like this with Liara forever.

“More,” Liara whispers, and Ashara presses a third finger into her wife. As she slides past the tight ring of muscle at the asari’s opening, a feeling of ecstatic fullness radiates from Liara. Shepard feels her body pulse sympathetically and Liara responds by dipping two of her slim fingers inside her. 

“God, yes,” Ashara gasps, feeling herself squeezing tight around her wife’s digits, and as she pushes deeper into Liara, the asari cries out, uncontrolled wisps of blue light filling the air.

“Ashara!” The sound of her name spoken like that is what finally does it, the word a prayer, a plea, and an affirmation of love all at once that sends her crashing over the edge, her wife tumbling with her into their shared climax.

As her mind fills with white light, Ashara feels Liara delve even deeper into her thoughts, sharing in that instant not only their bliss but some other, primal thing that she can’t name. Instinctively, she clutches her bondmate close to her, the feeling of connection incredibly intense, the waves of pleasure and oneness going on and on until time seems to lose meaning. When at last their thoughts start to untwine and their fingers reluctantly withdraw from each other, Ashara catches a glimpse of some part of herself resting in Liara’s mind, and she knows without question what happened.

She brushes her fingertips gently over Liara’s face, looking up at her with a sense of wonder. “We’re going to…” she whispers, not even needing to finish the sentence.

Liara turns her face into her palm, kissing it gently. “Yes,” she replies softly, “We are,” and there’s no more that needs to be said before they drift off to sleep in each other’s arms, their chests rising and falling as one.


	10. Leverage

“Fuck yes!”

As Miranda’s hot mouth closes around her clit, she cries out, sweat dripping from her body while she tangles her fingers in the former operative’s thick black hair. Her chest heaves, her breath coming in sharp gasps as she pushes her hips against Miranda’s face, trying desperately to increase the pressure on her center. She’s close, so damn close, and she just needs…

Thump!

The banging on the hotel room door snaps Jack back to reality. “Goddamn it,” she mutters, wiping her hand on the sheets before throwing back on her gym shorts and t-shirt and heading to open it. A more prudent person would check who’s there first, but prudent has never been an adjective used to describe Jack. If somebody’s looking for a fight, they’ll deserve what they get for the interruption.

Miranda. Jack can’t say that she’s surprised to see her, though as late as it’s gotten, she’d been starting to wonder if the woman would have the nerve to turn up at all. Still, looking at her standing there, wearing that black dress along with an irate expression, Jack suspects it may be have been worth the wait.

“You really do not have any shame, do you?”

Jack smirks. “What’re you talking about, cheerleader?”

“You know bloody well what I’m talking about. You were trying to pick me up at a damn funeral.”

“Guess it worked. I mean, here you are.”

“That is not why I came here.”

“You mean to tell me you showed up at my door in the middle of the night just to bitch at me? You couldn’t have sent a message?” She could keep this up all night; toying with the cheerleader is almost as much fun as fucking her. Still, almost isn’t going to cut it, especially not with her clit still throbbing from her interrupted session, so she gets to the point. “You came here because you want to sleep with me.”

“We have already been there, Jack. Nothing good came of it.”

“Depends what you mean.” She licks her lips suggestively. “It was pretty fucking good the way I remember it.”

“And the next day, despite it’s supposed quality, you still almost broke a plate over my head at breakfast.”

“So? I’m not saying we buy the house on Thessia next door to Shepard and T’Soni. Right now, tonight, we just buried a friend and we could both stand to get laid. That’s all.” That’s all, she repeats to herself. The fact that she keeps thinking about Miranda when she jills off doesn’t mean anything.

“And tomorrow?”

“Tomorrow, I go back to my school, you go back to whatever top secret Alliance R&D shit you’ve been up to, and we don’t worry about it.”

 

The woman is infuriating. Absolutely infuriating. At yet, she has a point. Miranda did not come here to yell at her. So why did she come? Because she feels something for Jack. Her whole life, Miranda never been with anyone she truly loved, just had a string of sexual encounters she was largely indifferent to. Jacob was the closest she came to a real relationship, but though she felt affection for him, he’s not a man to ignite grand passions. Jack, though… It’s not like she loves her; even saying the words to herself sounds ridiculous. But she definitely feels something when she’s with her. A lot of it might be frustration and anger, but it’s also exciting and tonight, that’s enough.

“Deal,” she says simply and before the ex-convict can reply, Miranda steps into the room, slamming the door behind her, kicking off her shoes, and seizing Jack in her arms. Their lips crush together and she feels Jack’s tongue pushing inside her mouth while her hands grab her ass.

“Aren’t you in a rush,” she chides while running her fingers through the ex-convict’s short brown hair.

“Fuck you.” One small hand slides down under her dress and back up her thigh, the thumb exploring under the waistband of her black panties. “I was in the middle of something when you interrupted me.”

An image of Jack naked and touching herself jumps into Miranda’s thoughts and she finds herself flushing as she wonders if it was her the powerful biotic was thinking of. There’s no time to speculate though as Jack’s fingers have made their way inside her underwear, yanking them down in a single, abrupt motion.

Before she can make any further comments about patience, Miranda feels Jack going to her center, and when two fingers slide easily inside her, she moans louder than she means to at the sudden, pleasing penetration. She’s almost never this ready this fast and clearly Jack is right that she needs this.

She’s not quite prepared to entirely surrender control though, so while Jack pushes deeper inside her, she reaches under the woman’s loose grey t-shirt, her hand closing around a small breast. It fits nicely in her palm and feeling the nipple already hard against her hand, she rubs it between two of her fingers. Jack gasps and when Miranda pinches harder in response, the ex-convict arches her back, her fingers slipping out of the brunette as she does. Despite herself, Miranda groans with disappointment but Jack only laughs.

“Don’t worry. I’m not done with you by a long shot.”

 

Miranda starts to reply, but Jack senses an advantage and cuts her off, her biotics spinning the taller woman around and pushing her so that she’s facing up against the hotel wall. Without hesitation, Jack yanks down the zipper of her dress, dropping it to the ground and leaving Miranda naked in front of her. God, she does have a great ass Jack thinks as she presses up against it. She’d definitely like to fuck her in it, but that’s not really a second date activity, at least probably not for Ms. Lawson, so Jack just reaches her hand around a pale hip and between her legs, rubbing Miranda’s clit while she nips at her back, leaving little marks along her shoulder blade.

Miranda moans and she’s so turned on that Jack can’t resist having some fun with her. “You enjoying this, Miranda?” she purrs into her ear, her free hand massaging her ample breasts. The brunette just keeps making the most entertaining sounds, rocking against Jack’s hand as she rubs her, so she continues, “I’ll take that as a ‘yes.’” She pushes two fingers inside, letting her palm rub against Miranda’s clit while she thrusts. “You see what I meant before? Life’s a hell of a lot better when you stop being such a prissy bitch and admit what you want.”

“Would you just shut the fuck up and make me come?”

God, she loves how desperate Miranda sounds right now. Jack stops moving her fingers for a second, letting them rest inside Miranda, though she continues toying a pink nipple with her other hand. “Not a problem, cheerleader. One thing though. I want you to say my name when I do.”

Miranda’s hips push against her hand. “Jack,” she protests.

“Yeah, like that. But with a little more feeling.”

“Fuck you, Jack.”

“Closer.” She presses her fingers deeper inside Miranda, giving her just a taste of what she wants. “But it should be ‘Fuck ME, Jack.’”

Miranda hesitates and Jack teases her tongue slowly along the outside of her ear while keeping the rest of her body perfectly still. “Really? You’re gonna hold out now?”

“Fine,” Miranda concedes. “Fuck me, Jack.” She can tell the woman’s trying to make her voice as unemotional as possible as she forces the words out, but there’s still an undercurrent of lust that she can’t hide.

“Was that so hard?” Jack presses her body against Miranda’s back, her fingers starting to move inside her again.

“Fuck, yes,” Miranda moans, rocking her hips lustfully against her hand, her perfect ass rubbing tantalizingly against Jack’s clothed body as she does. “Fuck me. Fuck me, Jack, you little bitch.”

“Sure thing, cheerleader.” She adds a third finger, shoving it inside as Miranda keeps mumbling obscenities at her. The woman is so wet, so ridiculously aroused that Jack finds herself wondering how long it’s been since she’s had a decent lay. Watching her unravel like this under her touch, Jack feels herself getting hotter, the throbbing between her own legs becoming more needful as she pushes Miranda towards the edge.

“Yes! Harder, fuck you, you can do better than that. Fuck, fuck , fuck, fuck…” That word seems to be the only one Miranda can remember, the rest of her vocabulary disappearing as she climaxes around Jack’s hand. It’s almost painful how tight she’s squeezing around her fingers, and when Jack pulls them out, the former operative collapse to the ground, panting at her feet.

 

On her knees, naked and gasping for breath as the tide of pleasure recedes, Miranda is on the verge of giving up any hope of ending the evening with a shred of self-respect. As she turns around, it only gets worse, the ex-convict staring down at her wearing the same smug grin she’s had all evening. For an instant, she can’t figure out what she can do to salvage this situation, but when she looks into Jack’s big brown eyes, she doesn’t see just self-satisfaction but also hunger and suddenly, a plan takes shape. With as much dignity as she can muster under the circumstances, she stands, picks up her underwear, and pulls them on.

“What the fuck do you think you’re doing?”

Ah, there’s the reaction she’s looking for. “That was very enjoyable, Jack, but it really is getting late and we’ve both had a long day.”

“You have got to be kidding me, cheerleader.” Jack committed one crucial error. All day, she’s had Miranda at a disadvantage, because Miranda wanted something from her and Jack knew it, but then she gave it to her. Miranda may have made a fool of herself getting it, but it’s still swung the balance of power in her favor as the frustration in Jack’s voice makes clear.

“I’m not sure what you mean. Certainly, if this were a relationship, it wouldn’t be appropriate for me to leave you so frustrated, but as you correctly pointed out, it’s not.”

She starts to put on her dress when Jack stops her. “Wait. What the hell do you want?”

“Seeing as you’re looking for some consideration, perhaps you should try showing some.”

“What, making you come so hard you nearly broke my fingers doesn’t count?” Miranda fights back the urge to blush and instead shoots Jack her best withering stare.

“All right.” Jack turns away, not wanting to look her in the eye when she says it. “Would you please let me have a fucking turn?”

“There we go.” Miranda drops her dress and steps over to Jack, tiling her head down and kissing the shorter woman. She means it to be purely sexual, but maybe because her body’s still feeling so good from what Jack did to her, there’s more affection in the kiss than she intends. The ex-convict doesn’t seem to mind though, pressing her body up against her as Miranda pulls off her grey t-shirt.

She always forgets how slight Jack is, the force of her personality making her seem bigger than she really is, but as Miranda pushes her back onto the bed, she looks unusually vulnerable. Following her down, Miranda runs her hands over her tattooed skin, rubbing the surprisingly strong muscles underneath it. The biotic groans, her legs spreading in the clear hope of a quick release, but Miranda instead cups Jack’s breasts with her hands, her fingers teasing the rock-hard nipples, but not going any lower.

“Damn it! Didn’t I ask nicely?”

Miranda smiles wickedly, running her tongue up the side of Jack’s neck while she keeps massaging her breasts. “You did,” she whispers in her ear. “But a little patience wouldn’t kill you.”

“Come on, Miranda. I was so fucking close when you got here.”

“Well, since you’re being so polite about it…”

Miranda makes her way down Jack’s body, pulling off her black gym shorts. She’s deliciously aroused and even a quick flick of Miranda’s tongue over her outer lips is enough to elicit a cry of pleasure from the smaller woman. She starts slowly, but Jack seems so close, so responsive to each movement of her tongue, that Miranda decides not to make her wait too long. 

Feeling Jack writhe around her, her thighs pressing against her head, screaming herself hoarse as Miranda licks her clit while she slides a finger inside her, the former operative forgets their earlier competition. There’s something in Jack’s desperate desire for her that causes Miranda to want to make Jack come, not to prove a point or gain an advantage, but just to do it. When she does, Jack’s clit pulsing against her tongue, her body clenching around her finger, Miranda lets her enjoy it. She draws the climax out, slowly stroking Jack’s core with her tongue while the aftershocks run their course, and only when the biotic has slumped back down into the mattress satisfied does she rise to find her clothes. 

“Hold on.” She’s halfway across the room to her dress when Jack’s voice stops her. 

“What is it?”

“Fuck it. It’s late. If you wanna stay here tonight…”

A dozen cutting remarks spring to mind, but she drops all of them unsaid. Right now, the empty room back at her own hotel doesn’t seem very appealing, especially not compared with the naked woman lying there in bed. So she turns around and slides under the sheets, and as she feels Jack’s warm sweaty body press against hers, she realizes that she may be in a little trouble. She came here tonight in part because she thought she knew what it was Jack wanted from her and now, not only is she not so sure that she did, she thinks that might be a good thing.


	11. Old Acquaintances

“So, how long do you think it’ll be before they’re getting shot at for real?”

It’s a gorgeous day on Thessia, and as Ashara stands with Garrus overlooking the practice field, watching a sea of young asari taking rifle practice, the gloomy question feels a bit incongruous.

"Always nice to see that positive outlook of yours, Garrus.”

The turian chuckles.  She’s glad to hear it.  He’s been staying on Thessia for over half a year, and his good moods have been few and far between. 

"Seriously though, Shepard.  We’re building them this shiny new military.  When do you think the asari will need it for real?”

"Who knows?”  Ashara shakes her head, thinking about some of the diplomatic headaches she’s been encountering.  “A lot of what’s left of the batarians have turned pirate.  Han’Gerrel and some of the quarian fleet have been causing border problems.  Nobody’s even seen the Leviathans since the last battle.  I don’t think anybody wants a real war just yet, but there’re certainly enough problems that I wouldn’t rule one out.”

"Now who’s an optimist?”

She claps Garrus on the shoulder.  “Me.  I mean, we’ve got the krogan and even the rachni playing nicely with everyone else, the asari are showing a little humility, and humans and turians seem to have buried the hatchet for good.  A lot of stuff has gotten better, even if there are still plenty of issues out there.”

"Well, I guess it’s good to know there’s still a use for our skills.  Hate to think I’d be reduced to handing out parking tickets.”

She shakes her head.  “Not likely.  And speaking of uses for our skills, are you up for a field trip?”

"Hey, when have I ever said ‘no’ to a mission with you?  What’s it about though?  I’m surprised you’d want to travel right now.”

"I don’t really, but it’s important.  Liara found Kelly Chambers.”  After Bahak, much of the crew went their separate ways, and though most of them were either found safe or confirmed dead long ago, Kelly had just vanished, disappearing into the chaos of the war.  Now, Liara has found the false name she was using to hide from Cerberus, and Ashara feels an obligation to make sure she’s all right, especially considering where her trail leads.

"So, where is your old assistant these days?”

"Your favorite place in the galaxy.” 

Garrus gives her a quizzical look before figuring it out.  “Omega.”

 

"Are you sure you’re going to be okay while I’m gone?”

"Ashara, I am not an invalid.  At least not yet.”

Though Liara is nine months pregnant, asari take fifteen to bring a child to term and it’s only recently that she’s even started to show.  Still, standing in their garage, looking at her beautiful wife in her white dress, Shepard is finding it hard to get into the car.  She smiles apologetically.  “I know you can take care of yourself.  It’s just, it’s our first kid and I worry is all.”

"You are quite sweet, love,” Liara replies, stepping into her arms for a farewell embrace.  “At any event, Aethyta will be here.”

"What do you think I’m concerned about?  Four days visiting with your father?  I might get back and find out you killed her.”  Ashara is half-kidding; the two asari have been getting along better recently, though that still does sound like a lot of Aethyta.

"We will be fine.  You are the one going to a lawless den of iniquity.”

"I’ll have Garrus watching my back and the three students coming with me are some of my best.”

"I am glad to hear it.”  Liara tightens the hug and gives Ashara a long, deep kiss.  “Go.  Be Commander Shepard.  Look after your crew.”

"I love you so much, Liara.  And you,” she adds, stroking the swell of her wife’s stomach affectionately, “Don’t worry.  Your dad will be back before you know it.”

"I love you too, Ashara.  Now you had better leave.  Garrus will complain all the way to Omega if you’re late for the flight.”

           

Thank god for Omega, Ashara thinks as she fastens her helmet into place and gets ready to disembark from the captured mercenary ship they’ve borrowed from the asari government for this trip.  Covering her face is pretty much the only way she can go unrecognized these days, but in most of the nicer parts of the galaxy, walking around in full combat armor might seem a bit suspicious.  Here, it’s just good sense.

"So, why are we operating incognito, sir?  Wouldn’t people be more cooperative if they knew it was you they were dealing with?”

At 121, Elphi is by far the youngest of three asari accompanying her, and also the most inquisitive.  She was a university librarian of all things before the war, and first saw action evacuating the campus when the Reapers hit Thessia.  Still, she’s a natural at biotic combat, and brings an infectious enthusiasm to everything she does.

"A few reasons.”  It’s one of the differences between being an officer and being a teacher.  Soldiers follow orders.  Students get an explanation.  “For one thing, when I go anywhere, it’s a circus, but on Omega, that means something a little different.  I don’t feel like having to kill some dumb krogan trying to make a name for himself by taking down Commander Shepard.”

Garrus completes her explanation with a laugh.  “Plus, I might have made a few enemies the last time I was here.”

 

Sadly, their disguise doesn’t last long, at least not with everyone.  They’re barely a hundred meters off the ship when they’re met by a welcoming committee of two sour-looking turians and a batarian.

The batarian, whose name she’s pretty sure is Bray, turns to them.  “Commander Shepard, you need to come with us.”

“And who, exactly are you to give that order?”  Cellia steps forward, her hand dropping to the Acolyte pistol at her side.  The royal blue-skinned asari is probably the best natural leader out of her students, but she can also be a bit of a hothead.

The turians finger their assault rifles and Shepard backs Cellia down before Garrus shoots them.  He’s always had a bit of a short fuse, and lately, he’s grumpier than usual.  “It’s fine, we’ll go talk to Aria.”

 

Considering the war and the Cerberus occupation, it’s remarkable how little Afterlife has changed.  The pulsing music, the lights, the gyrating asari dancers, all of it layered over an ugly air of desperation and barely contained violence: it could be the day Shepard first walked in here looking for Archangel and she wouldn’t know the difference.

When they get to the office overlooking the club floor though, Ashara can’t say the same for either it’s self-styled queen, or her couch.  The old white and black sofa has been replaced with red leather, but where the furniture is new, the asari rising from it seems older.  There’s a measure of weariness in the way she carries herself and the long scar running down her neck and disappearing beneath her white jacket speaks to the hard road she travelled to regain power.

“So, what brings the galaxy’s biggest troublemaker back to my station?  Did you think I wouldn’t know it was you?”  There’s a note of anger in her voice.

“It’s nothing you need to worry about.”  She’s not particularly inclined to give Aria any information she doesn’t have to.  The two of them aren’t exactly on the best of terms and she’d hate for Kelly to become a pawn in some game between them.

“You’ve got a certain amount of nerve, I’ll give you that.  You really thought it was a good idea coming here, after leaving me to retake this station by myself?”

Garrus snorts derisively beneath his helmet.  “You might have noticed she was busy saving the entire galaxy, your purple ass included.”

“Archangel.  A word from me to the right people…”

“And I might have to thin out Omega’s merc population a bit further.”

The guards around them bristle and the hint of violence that’s always present in Afterlife becomes a palpable presence.  Her students sense it too, and Ashara watches how they position themselves.  Their tactical judgments seem sound, especially Rissia’s.  The former N-7 talks little, but she moves with a deadly grace that reminds Shepard of Thane.  The two batarians she’s standing near will both be dead in seconds if trouble starts and they don’t even realize it.

Before things can go any further, Aria sits down and her guards take the cue and back off.  “Fuck it,” she says, turning her attention back to Shepard.  “We may not be friends but there’s no reason we have to be enemies.  I’m just making sure you’re not planning on turning this place into a slaughterhouse again.”

“We’re not.  We’re just here to see someone is all.”  She doesn’t exactly appreciate the characterization of her rescue of Garrus, but there’s no need to argue about it when Aria’s conceding the substance of the argument.

“Fine.  Just remember the one rule on Omega and we shouldn’t have any trouble.”

“Not a problem.  Think you could see your way clear to not telling half the station we’re here.”

“Now you want a favor?”

“I’ll be fine either way.  I just think it’ll avoid some of that mess you mentioned.”

Aria only dismisses them with a wave of her hand, but as they leave, Shepard hears her tell her people, “Hands off.  Any trouble and you answer to me.”

 

Once they’re out of earshot, Cellia turns to her instructor.  “That was close.  For a moment, I was concerned that we would have to kill them.”

“There was never any real chance of that.”

“Why not, sir?” Elphi enquires.

“Why do you think?”

“They know your reputation.”

“And Garrus’ as well,” Shepard adds.  “Plus none of you three exactly look like pushovers.  Aria may act like she’s not afraid of anything but she hasn’t lasted this long by getting into fights she’s unlikely to win.  She did beat feet out of here pretty quickly when Cerberus attacked after all.  But that’s not the only reason.  What would happen if she did take us down?”

“She would be dead within a week,” Rissia says flatly.

Garrus chuckles.  “She might last two if she ran very quickly.  But if she actually killed Shepard, the Alliance, krogan, the asari, the rachni, and pretty much half the rest of the galaxy would be tripping over each other to get revenge.”

Ashara nods.  For a long time, she and her crew operated with very little support, and it’s good to know that people have her back now.  It’s also, however, the unmentioned reason she wanted to come here anonymously; her students won’t have that advantage when they’re on their own and she wants to see how they behave without it.

“Lesson over,” she tells them.  “Now let’s go find ‘Katherine Sedwick.’”


	12. Scars

Cellia had broken the arm of a batarian informant who got grabby and Elphi was a bit overenthusiastic using her biotics on some vorcha muggers, but otherwise it was a relatively bloodless three days that had led them to a familiar destination. Bathed in the dim light of Mordin’s clinic, Ashara feels a pang of regret. If only she’d gotten to the tower sooner, maybe he’d be here waiting for them; she doubts the sea shells could have held his attention this long. At least she knows what his death was for; every time she talks to Wrex about his children or helps the krogan set up new colonies, she thinks of it as a small tribute to her friend’s work.

“Halt, unidentified visitors.” The pair of security mechs greeting them aren’t a surprise given their gear, and she decides this is probably a good time to dispense with anonymity.

“Commander Shepard!” As she removes her helmet, the bearded figure of Dr. Abrams rushes forward to greet her, waving off the mechs. “This is a surprise.”

“Doctor, it’s good to see you.” He seems more mature, more solid than the scared assistant she rescued almost six years ago and it suits him. “You look like you’re doing well.”

“I am, I am. Listen, I was sorry to hear about Mordin.”

“Well, he died doing something he believed in. You know, he’s the only salarian with a statue on Tuchanka?”

“He’d like that I think.”

“He certainly would.” Mordin always did have an ego, but no one can doubt that he earned the honor. “I’m glad to see you carrying on his work.”

“It’s the least I can do, given everything he taught me. So, what brings you here?”

“Actually, I was hoping to see someone on your staff.” She almost says Kelly Chambers, but she’s not sure if the doctor knows her real name. “Katherine Sedwick.”

“Of course. I think she’s in-between patients right now. Should I get her out here?”

“No, I’ll go in. Just give us a few minutes, okay?”

 

“Kelly?”

The name, like the person who says it, feels like it comes from a different life. A life when she always had a smile on her face and when she thought that all of this was a grand adventure. She feels so far from that girl that it takes her a minute to realize who’s there.

“Kelly?”

The second time though, there’s no mistaking her voice. Kelly can still remember the first time she heard it on the bridge of the Normandy. It’s calm and reassuring and it always made Kelly think that nothing bad could happen to her as long as she was there. Looking up at her, there are slight differences: longer hair, fewer cares written on her face, but the woman in front of her still appears as if she’s stepped straight out of that old life.

“Shepard? Is it really you? What’re you doing here?”

“I came to find you. Are you okay?”

She’s not really sure how to answer. What can she say to a woman who’s been through the hell that Shepard has that wouldn’t sound like a child complaining about a stubbed toe? “I’m all right.”

“What happened?” There’s real concern in Shepard’s voice. “How did you end up here?”

She takes a deep breath. She can do this. “I thought I was starting to do better, after the Collectors. I really did. When I left the Normandy, I changed my name, I dyed my hair black, and I went to Palaven. I thought Cerberus couldn’t get to me there and I… I always liked turians.” She blushes and smiles just a little but when Shepard smiles back, there’s a pained note to it. The commander knows where the story goes next.

“It was like it the nightmare had come back to find me again. All of these people were trying to get to the spaceport when the Reapers fell on us. These… things were everywhere, killing people, eating their bodies right in front of me, and all I could do was run.”

She shakes at the memory, her knees feeling like jelly, and Shepard’s strong arms catch her, pulling her up. Kelly’s had so many fantasies that start this way. Once, long ago, she thought there was a chance it could be real between them. Shepard had been so kind to her, but Kelly had also sensed a hurt in her, the loss she had suffered when the Normandy had been destroyed. She’d told herself that she could heal the heart of the gallant commander and win it in the process.

She’d felt so ridiculous the first time Liara came on board the ship, when they went to Hagalaz. Here was this beautiful, powerful asari that the commander looked at like there was no one else in the galaxy, and she was just dumb Kelly from nowhere who’d never had a chance. What a stupid little girl she had been.

“Somehow, I got to a ship and we just fled, flying from world to world, trying to find someplace safe. It seemed like there was nowhere to go though, nowhere they weren’t following. A lot of the other passengers were convinced that there was no hope, but I had to believe that somehow, you’d rescue me again, rescue all of us.”

“Kelly, I’m sorry I couldn’t have been there.”

“But you did save me. We were… we were so close to dead. Our ship, the Reapers were chasing it down. We couldn’t get to the relay. There was no way out, just like when the Collectors… And then you fired the Crucible, and suddenly it was over. Just like that, we were all okay. Afterwards, we got stranded because of the relays and when they started working, I ended up here. A lot of refugees did. It was one of the few places in the Terminus Systems that could take us in.”

“But once things settled down, why did you stay here? Cerberus is gone. You’re safe now.”

“There was nowhere else for me to go. My parents died on Earth and I…” Tears of shame start to flow unbidden from her eyes. She must look so pathetic and yet she can’t stop them. “I couldn’t face the rest of you. I mean, you, and Garrus, and Thane and everyone else, you were all heroes. You fought, and some of you died, and you saved the whole galaxy, and instead of helping you, I just ran and hid. I don’t deserve…”

“Don’t think that way, Kelly.” The commander’s voice is gentle as she comforts her. “You weren’t a soldier.”

“Do you really… you don’t blame me for leaving you, for not coming back to the Normandy?”

“You helped us when we fought the Collectors and you survived. That’s enough. It’s more than a lot of people did. The rest of the crew would be glad to see you again.”

“Thank… thank you.” Her voice is thick in her throat. To hear this from Shepard, it means a lot. “Maybe I will someday. For now though… so many of the refugees here have been through so much and they need a councilor. Helping them, it… it lets me sleep.” At least a little bit. It’s still a rare night that she doesn’t wake at least once in a cold sweat, feeling those hands reaching out to grab her vulnerable skin, that sick feeling of helplessness filling her being.

“Whatever you want.” There’s real warmth in her smile. “Is there anything I can do to help out?”

“No, I... It’s just… “ Shepard looks so healthy, so much happier than she used to. “How do you do it, commander? How do you deal with the nightmares?”

“A day at a time. It hasn’t always been easy, but I try to remember what it was all for and,” Kelly sees Shepard’s smile unconsciously broaden, “I’ve had a lot of love and support.”

She feels a pang of foolish jealousy but she tries to push it away. Shepard was never hers to lose. “Tell Liara, I… congratulations to both of you.” Shepard looks puzzled for a second and Kelly gives her a little smile. “For the baby. Hey, even here on Omega it was big news when the press found out she was pregnant.”

The commander shakes her head. “It still takes a little getting used to, everything I do being galactic news, but thanks. By the way, do you want to see Garrus too? He’s outside.”

“I really would. And commander,” she gives her a final hug, “I’m really glad you came here.”

 

As they walk away from the clinic through the dank corridors that make up Omega’s slums, Ashara’s not totally sure what to feel. She’s relieved that Kelly is physically safe, but she’d been such a sweet, naive girl and to see the damage that’s been done to her is hard. Whatever Shepard went through, she was a soldier, a Specter. She’d been trained, if not for what happened, than at least for something. Too many civilians went through too much and she just hopes that Kelly will be able to find her way back in time.

She’s snapped out of her thoughts by the realization that someone’s following them. Garrus notices it too, and he and the students drop into formation, scanning the periphery.

“Show yourselves!” Cellia’s voice echoes in the confined space, and Shepard sees someone move in response at the edge of her vision. Her Paladin is in her hand but before she decides if she needs it, another voice answers.

“Stand down you two. They’re friendly. Isn’t that right, Archangel?”

Emerging from the shadows is a female turian who’s black armor makes for a striking contrast with her red facial markings. The two scruffy looking humans who follow are a bit less memorable, and they hang back, deferring to the woman.

Garrus sighs. “Doesn’t this disguise work on anyone?”

The female turian grins at him. “Maybe with some people, but I’ve studied you. That’s why I know you weren’t there to give Dr. Abrams trouble, unlike these two.”

“Course not. Just visiting an old acquaintance.”

“So, who’s this with you? A new team?” 

“Not exactly.” Ashara removes her helmet. “You want to introduce me to your friend?”

“Commander Shepard, Nyreen Kandros. Nyreen, Shepard.”

Unlike the two awestruck humans next to her, if Nyreen is impressed, she hides it well. “So, I’m guessing that means you really were Garrus Vakarian all along? I’d heard rumors, but you never know what to believe on Omega.” She turns to Shepard. “Archangel and I crossed paths a few times back when he was trying to clean up this station.”

“A fool’s errand,” Garrus chuckles. “Nyreen here used to be particularly close to Aria, so she knows as well as anyone what a mess it is. What’re you up to now? I heard you two had a falling out and these don’t look like her men anyway.”

“Somebody has to look out for the greater good and it certainly won’t be Aria. These guys are Talons. After you and Shepard thinned out the more bloodthirsty gangs, they became one of the bigger players around here. When Cerberus killed their old leader, I took over. It helps me to do a little good for the people on Omega, like looking out for that clinic.”

Shepard nods her head approvingly. Here on Omega, a relatively benevolent gang counts as a step in the right direction. “What happened with Aria anyway? She seems edgier than the last time I saw her.”

Nyreen lets out a sound that’s somewhere between a growl and a sigh. “It got personal with her and Cerberus. The general they had running things during the occupation, Petrovsky, was a real problem, some kind of strategic genius, and she wanted him out of the way. He had a brother, also in Cerberus, but low-level, a tech stationed somewhere else. Aria had him killed badly and sent the photos to Petrovsky. She was trying to lure him away from here chasing her so that she could retake the station. It didn’t work though, just made him mad.”

“When you destroyed Cerberus HQ, she decided that weakened Petrovsky enough to attack head-on, but when she got here, he’d already fled. Left behind all the soldiers that were turning into husks though, and also these… things. Cerberus called them Adjutants, but they were just nasty, ugly monsters created with Reaper tech and he let them run wild as a final, spiteful gesture. Spirits, that was a vicious battle.” She pauses, remembering. “It took a toll on Aria; she lost a bunch of people including that turian bodyguard of hers, Grizz, and picked up a real nasty scar. Nyreen forces a smile. “Plus, he set her couch on fire.”

Petrovsky. She’s heard that name before. According to Liara, he’s still out there in the Terminus Systems, and with one of the larger contingents of ex-Cerberus personnel around. “That must have made Aria really happy.”

“About as much as you’d think. She’s put a bounty on him large enough to buy a pretty nice ship and it doubles if you bring him in alive. What she really wants is to tear him apart with her bare hands.”

“I guess she really did love that couch,” Garrus cracks.

Shepard shakes her head, disgusted at the whole bloody business. Just one more problem left over from the fucking war. “What a mess.”

“Really is. I just hope the people here don’t get caught in the crossfire when they finally settle it for good.”

“I appreciate that, and that you’re looking out for the clinic. A friend of mine was the one who started it.” She’d rather not compromise Kelly’s privacy any more than she probably already has by explaining their connection. “I’m going to find them some additional funds, but if they need anything else, I’d like to know.”

“Sure thing. It’s welcome to have somebody with pull giving a damn.” As they start to leave, Nyreen adds with a sly laugh, “And keep an eye on Archangel, Shepard. He’s trouble.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, if you don't do Omega, I figure it means Nyreen doesn't necessarily die, and that Aria might resort to fighting dirty (er) to try to get back the station.


	13. Familiar Patterns

The kiss that Liara gives her when she gets out of the car is the kind of good, long kiss that Ashara has to follow up with several smaller ones just because she doesn’t want it to be over.

“I see you missed me.” Liara’s hands are warm running over her back as her head rests against Shepard’s chest.

“You know that I did, Ashara. I always…”

“I know.” When they’d first been reunited after she destroyed the Reapers, it had been hard for Liara to be apart from her for too long. Over the last few years her wife’s fears of losing her have eased, but they haven’t dissipated entirely. “It’s good to be home.”

“The message you sent when you landed indicated that you did not enjoy the flight very much.”

“You can say what you want about Cerberus, but the SR-2 was a hell of a lot more comfortable than that piece of junk the asari lent us. My back did not appreciate those chairs.”

Liara gives her a sympathetic look. “In that case, why don’t you join me in the hot tub and you can tell me about your journey.”

“Mm.” Some days, she really does feel exceptionally lucky. “You in a hot tub… it may be a while before we actually discuss the trip.”  
Her wife’s smile turns slightly mischievous. “I can be patient.”

Some time later, when both of them are feeling a great deal more relaxed, Liara’s bondmate asks her with a laugh, “So, when we get out of here, should I check the garden for an Aethyta-shaped hole?”

Liara purrs happily, still enjoying the afterglow. “You will be pleased to know that I actually came to a better understanding of why she has acted the way that she did.”

“Go on.”

“It can be traced back to Benezia. I knew very little about their relationship and it was far more intense than I had realized. They were together for a hundred years, and when Aethyta lost my mother just as they were going to have a daughter, it hurt her very badly.”

“What happened to them?”

“It was politics but also personality. Both of them had always believed in changing the Asari Republics, but when they finally started to gain the power they had sought, it did not work out as they had hoped. Aethyta can be… abrasive and my mother worried that she was becoming a liability in her public appearances while Aethyta became jealous of Benezia’s followers. She thought that she was using her sexuality as a means to control them as well as to gain influence over important people.”

Ashara shakes her head sympathetically. Liara had heard the occasional unsavory rumor about her mother before, but she’d never wanted to investigate the truth of them further. “When they finally split up, Benezia told Aethyta that I would be better off without in her in my life and as my father became increasingly bitter and angry, she started to believe that it was true. That is why she stayed away for so long and by the time Benezia died, she did not know where to begin with me. She was afraid I would think that she was trying to take advantage of the fame and influence I possessed, especially after the war.”

“I told her that I did not believe that and we are going to try to make a fresh start. She wants to be here when our daughter is born, to be a part of her life.”

“I’m glad to hear it, Liara. We don’t have much family. Besides, we could use a babysitter we can trust.”

The asari laughs. “Provided she refrains from teaching her granddaughter to swear like a krogan pirate, I would agree. Now, how was your trip?” 

“The students performed well. I’m going to ask Cellia and Elphi to stay on as instructors when they graduate.”

“And Rissia?”

“She’s probably the most skilled of the three, but she doesn’t have the personality for teaching. I think she’d be better off going back to special forces. It wouldn’t surprise me if she became a Specter some day.”

Liara nods. “What about Kelly?” It worries the asari that Shepard has been putting off the topic.

A sigh escapes her wife’s lips. “I don’t know. When you first told me where she was, it was easy to imagine the worst case scenarios. I mean, Omega, you imagine her face down in a gutter or enslaved in a brothel or some other terrible thing. It wasn’t like that. She was safe, working at Mordin’s old clinic, but when I saw her, she was so damaged. Not just from the things that happened to her, but she had all of this guilt. She thought, god, she thought we hated her for leaving the Normandy.”

Liara slides over, running a wet hand through Ashara’s hair. Kelly’s survivor’s guilt isn’t the only regret here. “She was just a damn kid, you know. Just a bubbly face the Illusive Man assigned to the ship because he wanted to put me at ease. She was half in love with me, and so green, and I let her get screwed over pretty thoroughly.”

“You saved her from the Collectors.” Liara kisses Ashara gently.

“I never should have let her get taken in the first place. Now I’m living in a mansion on Thessia with a beautiful wife and a daughter on the way and she’s working in a slum in Omega not sleeping at night.”

“I am sorry for her, Ashara, but what happened to her doesn’t mean you do not deserve the life we have built together. Her friends can be there for her when she’s ready, but Kelly will have to find her own way back, just as you have.”

“It’s still not fair. After all,” Ashara adds with a small smile, “Not everyone gets a Liara to help them out.”

Liara laughs. It’s progress to see her bondmate’s sense of humor reemerge relatively quickly after a bout of guilt. She’d never want Ashara to lose her compassion but she should be allowed to enjoy the happiness she’s unquestionably earned. “Well, this one is taken.”

She feels Shepard’s arms enfold her. “I’m glad to hear it. There is one thing I can do though; get the clinic some extra funding. My cut of the profits from “Commander Shepard: Mako Assault,” ought to buy a lot of bandages and medicine.

“I will make the arrangements. You know, Garrus once tried to get me to play that game when he was visiting. I cannot believe he enjoys it. I still shudder every time I think of that tank.” Ashara gives her a look. “I know, the experience was a product of its design and the circumstances you had to drive it under, rather then a reflection on your ability at doing so.” She pauses for a moment. “For the most part.”

Ashara winces in mock pain and laughs. “All right. Fine. I may have taken a ‘head-on’ approach to some of our missions. But I got us through, didn’t I?”

Liara nuzzles further into Shepard’s embrace. “You really did, love.”

 

She always sleeps better when Ashara shares the bed with her, so Liara is enjoying her most restful night in almost a week when she’s woken suddenly by Glyph floating into their room. “Doctor T’Soni.”

Beside her, her bondmate stirs. “Liara,” she mutter groggily into her pillow, “Can I just blast that thing?”

“Perhaps. Let us see what it has to say.”

“Doctor, you have a priority call.”

“From who?” There are very few people that Glyph is authorized to wake her up for.

“Kasumi Goto.” But she’s one of them. She’s disappeared entirely since the end of the war. Some of Shepard’s teammates keep a low profile, but all of the rest of them, even Javik, have been in touch at least a few times. Not Kasumi though, and if she’s made contact, that’s reason enough for Liara to drag herself out of bed.

Ashara seems to agree because she’s pulling on some sweats. “We’ll take it in here, Glyph.”

“Very well, Commander. I will route the call to Doctor T’Soni’s omni-tool.”

“Wait, Glyph…” Liara scrambles to throw on her robe, only barely getting it closed before an image of Kasumi pops into existence above her nightstand. 

“Hey Shep, Liara.”

“Kasumi, do you know what time it is on Thessia?”, Ashara grumbles.

“Nah, I was never any good at doing the conversions.”

“Fine, whatever. Why exactly have you surfaced after all this time other than to wake my pregnant wife up in the middle of the night?”

“Sorry about that and congratulations by the way. I just thought you might like to know, someone tried to kidnap me.”

Kasumi’s words seem to banish whatever fatigue Shepard is still feeling. She may be annoyed at the thief, but no one messes with her crew. “What happened?”

“Well, ever since people found out I was in your little club, it’s been hard to get work. Too much name recognition for most potential clients, you know. So, I’ve been trying to stay away, get back to being anonymous, but it’s not easy.”

“I am sorry that helping to save the galaxy has impinged on your criminal career.” 

Unlike her wife, Liara is not finding it hard to stay annoyed, but Kasumi blows right past the comment. “Nah, don’t mention it. I got paid well to help. But for now I’ve had to take the jobs I can, and this time it was supposed to be with ExoGeni. Supposedly, they wanted me to do a little corporate espionage, but when I showed up for the meet, it was a kidnapping instead.”

“I cannot imagine you are unaccustomed to betrayal in your line of work.”

“Betrayal I can deal with. But this time, they didn’t wait for me to do the job first before trying to take me out. Instead it was just a bunch of guys, a submission net and some flash-bangs. I’m just lucky they didn’t know quite how good I am.”

Shepard lets the bragging pass and moves on to the problem at hand. “Do you have any idea what they wanted aside from you?”

“No. Pretty sure I never stole from ExoGeni before. At least nothing that they’d miss enough to go after me like that.”

“Shit. Anybody coming for you should know you’ve got dangerous friends. Which means that either they’re really dumb or they’re powerful enough to take the risk.”

Liara rubs her forehead. Worries of a kind she’d hoped were banished for good are starting to bubble towards the surface. It’s been so long since they’ve had a enemy they really worried about that it’s catching her off guard. “Please send me the details and I will see what I can find our for you.”

“Will do. And Shep, sorry about not calling. It’s just me.”

On that enigmatic note, the thief ends the call and Liara turns to her bondmate. “I should get started looking into this. I do not feel like I will have much success in falling back to sleep right now anyway.”

She feels a kiss on the top of her crest. “I’ll go make you some tea and get myself some coffee. If it’s going to be a long night, we’ll get through it together.”


	14. Friends and Family

The glass of orange juice is cool in Ashara’s hand as she sits on her balcony surveying the horde in the distance. For years, the local government has tried to keep the press away from her home, but the interest surrounding the imminent birth of her daughter has overwhelmed their best efforts. For months, various extranet sites have been doing a brisk business taking bets on what her name will be, and right now, Ashara’s convinced that the only thing keeping the host of paparazzi on the other side of the wall isn’t basic decency but a state-of-the–art security system.

It’s in part because of the intolerable media circus that would ensue at a hospital that they’ve decided to have the baby at home. Doctor Chakwas has agreed to be the attending physician, bringing along with her from the _Normandy_ a number of their old friends. With Ashley, Tali, and Joker joining Garrus and Aethyta at their house, Ashara has had her hands full playing hostess while the doctor goes over some final preparations with her bondmate.

Though she’d wanted a few minutes respite, she’s still pleased when she hears the unmistakable sound of Tali walking up behind her, the movement of her suit distinctive to a practiced observer. They’ve spoken a number of times by comm since her break-up with Garrus but this is Ashara’s first chance to talk with the quarian alone and in person in quite some time.

“Tali. How’re you doing?”

“Not bad, Shepard. It’s a little difficult seeing Garrus again, but I wouldn’t have missed this for anything.”

“I’m glad you could come. You and Ash are like family to us.”

“What about Joker?”

“Well, he’s more like the uncle who won’t stop telling embarrassing stories at dinner.” Apparently, that concept transcends species because Tali laughs long and hard. “He seems better then the last time I saw him. A bit more sociable and a bit less angry at everything.” It’s a change she’s glad to see. Over and above the concern she still has for all of her former crewmembers, she feels particularly responsible for Jeff because of her role in EDI’s death.

“Ashley told me that there is a human saying: ‘Time heals all wounds.’ I think it has healed at least some of his.”

“What about yours?”

“They do not sting as much as they used to.”

“I’m glad to hear it. That first breakup, it’s always hard. You feel like it’ll never get better until finally it does.”

Tali sighs beneath her mask. “It is hard though, to move on, to find somebody else. For a quarian, your ship is your world. And the _Normandy_ … how can anyone who wasn’t there know what it was like?”

Ashara shakes her head. “I’m not sure they can.” It’s part of why, despite the different roads many of them have travelled, her crew still feels like a family. That sense of a bond that can’t be replicated is a powerful thing.

Tali looks away from her, out over the horizon. “I was always jealous of you and Liara. Of what you had with someone who understood what you’d been through. I think that’s why I let Garrus fool me. I wanted the same thing.”

“He didn’t mean to hurt you, you know. He still feels like crap about how things turned out.”

“Good. He should.”

“I thought you were feeling less angry?”

“I am. The first few months, I spent my time planning how to plant explosives under his car.” Ashara laughs in sympathy and Tali turns her gaze back to the distance, trying to explain her feelings. “When I came to the Normandy, I felt so young. You, and Garrus, and Wrex, you were all so much more experienced and even though you made me feel at home, I felt like I was faking it, that I was pretending that I belonged. I had to work really hard to get past that and when I realized that Garrus had been humoring me, I went back to being that overwhelmed kid again.”

“Anything I can do to help the healing process along?”

“You can tell me what’s going on with Jack and Miranda. I talked to Samara after the funeral and she thought something was up with the two of them.”

Ah, there’s incorrigible gossip she knows so well. “It’s definitely something but I’m not totally sure what.” To be fair, since a call with Miranda two months ago that was somewhere between awkward and hilarious, Ashara’s not sure either of the two principals knows what’s going on either. “They like each other, they hate each other, who the hell knows… There’s an Alliance conference on new developments in the use of biotics in combat next month they’re both going to be at. Maybe things will be clearer after that.”

“You can’t give me more details? Tease,” the quarian sulks.

“Sorry, Tali. If it’ll make you feel better, I can tell you the name Liara and I have picked out for the baby.”

The quarian immediately brightens up. “Ooh. Go on.”

“It’s going to be Moira. Moira Shepard T’Soni.” In asari culture, daughters take their mother’s last names, with their father’s names sometimes being used as a middle name. “It’s a human name, but it sounds pretty asari as well. All the vowels, I think. And it’s also for Mordin.” She’s lost so many friends; more than she’s likely to ever have children, but she’s glad to be able to honor at least one of them in this way.

The outline of a smile is visible beneath Tali’s mask. “That’s nice. He was a good friend. I wish I’d had more time with him.”

“So do I.” With his numerous interests and philosophical outlook on life, Ashara suspects he would have adapted to peace better than many.

Off in the distance, she hears the sounds of bickering. “Anyway, I should go,” she tells the quarian. “Someone needs to make sure Joker and Aethyta don’t kill each other.”

  
“So, I’m just saying, doesn’t the actress in ‘Shepard Does Illium,’ really look a lot like her? I mean, sure, the commander probably didn’t defeat the Eclipse sisters by fucking them into exhaustion, but what do I know? I wasn’t there.”

There’s a crackle of biotic energy followed by a yelp of pain from Joker. “Hey, what was that for?”

“For perving on the father of my granddaughter.”

“But you were the one who was comparing her breasts with Captain Williams’.”

“That’s different. I’m family.”

 _Oh yeah, that’s definitely a conversation I want to be a part of_ , Ashara thinks to herself.   _Why don’t I go see what someone else is up to?_

  
“It’s your call Garrus. She’s still ticked at you, but not homicidal.”

The turian chuckles grimly. “Best I can hope for I guess, Shepard.”

As he leaves the sitting room, Ashley pours herself a drink and takes a seat next to her old commander. Tali’s presence in her crew and her close relationship with the quarian have made her a member of “Team Tali” in the break-up, but she’d definitely be happy to see her two old friends bury the hatchet.

“Sorry about the drama, skipper. I left most of the crew on shore leave back in the city, but Tali and Joker insisted…”

“Don’t worry about it, Ash. I’m glad to have you guys here. Truth is, I can use the distraction. Considering some of the things we’ve been through, I’d be lying if I said I’d never been this nervous, but it’s been a while.”

“Aw, you’ll be a great dad, Shepard.” When Shepard first became involved with Liara what felt like a lifetime ago, it hadn’t sat right with Ashley. She didn’t quite trust the asari and something about the first human Specter dating an alien… Jesus, she’d been an idiot back then. Now, she can’t imagine Shepard with anyone else, and she’s thrilled for both of them.

“Thanks. You know me though… I want everything to go right.”

“So, what are little asari like anyway?”

“Apparently, somewhat less rambunctious than humans, according to the books I’ve read. Good thing I guess, since their childhoods last for decades. I mean, asari kids can still be a handful, but we humans have something of a bad reputation on that score. Still better than the krogan at least.”

“Poor Wrex. Just how many does he have at this point?” The thought of the old warrior chasing a horde of small krogan around the house brings a smile to her lips.

“Hey, he’s the one who wanted a Genophage cure. He could have made a deal for something else.”

“Maybe eggs and sausage.” Shepard chuckles and Ashley figures this is as good a time as can be found on such a day to bring up a more serious topic. “Listen, Shepard. Can we talk work for a minute?”

“Sure. What is it?”

“Do you know anything more about this attack on Kasumi? I appreciated the heads-up after it happened but has there been any new information?”

Shepard shakes her head. “Not much. Kasumi didn’t know any of her attackers. The fence who set up the meeting swore to her that their corporate credentials were good, but we can’t get any more details from him because he turned up shot in the head after the attack. Meanwhile, ExoGeni claims they don’t know anything and from what Liara’s sources tell her, that’s the truth. Plus, nobody we’ve talked to can figure out a clear motive. I mean, maybe somebody she stole from carried a grudge, but who’s pissed off enough to risk bringing all of us down on their heads?”

“I don’t know.” Ashley can see the concern in Shepard’s eyes about this mysterious threat and she feels lousy. She didn’t mean to worry her friend today of all days. “Let me help; see if another Specter can’t shake something loose.”

“Thanks, Ash.”

“Hey, speaking of new developments, I’ve got some good news for you.” Ashley’s not exactly looking forward to this conversation, but it’ll change the topic and besides, Tali can’t keep her secret forever. She loves the quarian like a sister but she leaks gossip from every port on her suit.

“Really? What is it?”

“I’ve been seeing someone.”

Shepard smiles at her. The commander has been on her case intermittently to try and have more of a personal life. “That’s great. Who is it? Anyone I know?”

“I don’t think so. His name is Michael Bennet. He was in one of the N-7 units during the war and before that,” she pauses, dreading saying the words, “He defected from Cerberus.”

For an instant, Ashley almost worries Shepard might pass out from laughing so hard. Then, she kind of wishes she would. “Really? He was with Cerberus? Because a Specter once told me that you can’t trust those ex-Cerberus types. You never really know where their loyalties lie.”

Ashley winces but she can’t say she didn’t earn it. Shepard forgave her a long time ago for mistrusting her after the commander came back from the dead, but this news is just asking for some ribbing. “Go on, ma’am. Get it all out of your system.”

“Are you sure he’s not a husk? You need to check for that sort of thing.”

“Anything else?”

“Does he have an evil clone?” Shepard brushes a tear from her eye. “No, seriously, Ashley, I’m happy for you.”

“Thanks, skipper. So we met…”

Before she can continue, Doctor Chakwas walks into the room. “Shepard, we’re ready.”


	15. A Different Kind of Arrival

He finds Tali standing on the balcony, just staring out at the crimson sky that is sunset on Thessia. Behind her, in the distance, he can see the encamped paparazzi, and out of force of habit, he starts calculating the best firing angles. “Think anyone would complain if I just picked off a couple of them?”

She turns around. “Vakarian.” He’d hoped for a laugh. It’s so hard to read her expressions through that mask that when she keeps her voice emotionless, he can’t tell what she’s thinking.

“Did Shepard send you out here?”

“No. She just told me where to find you, that’s all.”

“Was it her that you really wanted? The way you ran here afterwards… you know it could never happen, right?”

Spirits, there’s so much anger in her. “That wasn’t it.” It really wasn’t. Shepard is his closest friend, but he’s never thought of her like that. Even if she hadn’t been in love with Liara almost as long as he’s known her, humans aren’t his thing. “She didn’t have anything to do with what happened to us.”

“Then what was it? Was I not good enough for you?”

He wishes he had an answer that made logical sense. Even more, he wishes he could have felt more than he did. Desire doesn’t work that way, though. “No, Tali. You’re great. It was my fault.”

She pauses. “But why? Why did you say yes to me if you didn’t… if you weren’t in love with me.”

At least she’s giving him a chance to explain. She’d stormed out so abruptly on Palaven. “Because I cared. I liked you so much as a friend and I wanted you to be happy. Besides, I thought that maybe my feelings would grow over time, and even if they didn’t, it probably didn’t matter anyway, because we were all likely to be dead soon.”

Finally, Tali laughs a little. He’s missed that sound. “Serves you right, you bosh’tet, for betting against Shepard.”

“I guess it does.” She doesn’t say anything, and so he continues. “Afterwards, when we survived, things were so screwed up. We crashed on that planet, EDI was dead, we thought Shepard was too, then she was alive and we had to repair the relay… there wasn’t really a chance to think things through. By the time I realized it wasn’t going to work, I didn’t know how to tell you that.”

Tali crosses her arms. “You really are thick-headed.” There’s less malice in her words than before though and Garrus feels a trace of optimism.

“Hey, my thick skull is the only reason I’m still alive.” She laughs again, slightly. “I’m sorry. I wanted you to be happy but you deserved somebody who wanted you.” He’s not sure what else he can say.

“I know you are. And… thank you for saying it. Garrus… you’re like family to me. You, and Shepard, and Liara, and Ashley, you’re almost the only people I have left and I don’t want to lose you. Even if you are a big idiot.”

He can deal with being a big idiot. It would hardly be the first time. “Hey, what’s family for if not screwing things up?”

She extends a gloved hand to the turian. “Friends?”

That simple gesture means a great deal to him. Tali’s not the only one who doesn’t have enough people in her life that she’s close to, and he’d never have forgiven himself it he lost her for good. “Of course,” he tells her, “Always.”

 

When Ashara walks in with Doctor Chakwas, she finds her wife already lying in bed wearing only a thin asari birthing robe made of blue silk. They’ve set up one of the guest rooms for the delivery, with a little crib, a table of medical supplies, and a cushioned chair positioned next to the bed.

“Are you sure you’re ready, my beloved Liara?” Much as asari can chose when to conceive, they can also decide when to induce labor once they’ve reached an appropriate point in their pregnancy.

“I am.” Liara’s smile is so full of love that Ashara has to fight back tears of happiness. The journey to this moment has been beyond belief and to have it almost here is slightly overwhelming.

Doctor Chakwas seems pleased too, explaining in her typically restrained voice, “I feel as if I’m going to be a grandmother.”

“We really appreciate this, doc.”

“It is my honor that you two chose me.”

Shepard sits next to Liara’s bedside and takes a blue hand firmly in her own. “I’m good whenever you are.”

“You know that you do not have to do this, Ashara.”

“Liara, don’t worry. I told you I would. I want to share everything with you and god knows I’ve been through worse pain.”

The asari nods, and her eyes flash to black, her mind smoothly entering Ashara’s receptive one. Joining with an unfamiliar person, especially one with a strong will, is a strain, but the more often an asari melds with a willing partner, the easier it becomes. With a bondmate, such unions can be a source of strength, a way of sharing burdens and pains as well as pleasure and joy.

As their minds settle in together, love and anticipation are the primary emotions Ashara can sense in her wife, but there’s also a hint of nervousness and she tries to soothe her. “I’m here. I’ll always be here.”

“I know.” Ashara feels her relax, her wife’s gratitude for this moment together mirroring Shepard’s own. “Give me a moment to begin.” Liara’s concentration turns inward and there’s a change in her breathing as contractions begin within the asari’s body. Distantly, Ashara can hear Doctor Chakwas moving, administering a drug to facilitate dilation. Liara is still young to have daughters and while they’ve been assured that everything should still be fine, medical help is indicated.

Waves of pain start to pass through Liara and Ashara grips her hand more tightly, whispering reassurances in her bondmate’s mind as she accepts her share of the discomfort. She can’t control the meld the way an asari can, but over the years, Shepard has learned how to influence it, bringing pleasant memories of their time together into her thoughts so that Liara can share in them.

…That day, battling through the mines of Therum, she hadn’t known whether to expect Benezia’s daughter to be an ally or an enemy. Yet, when she’d seen her hanging there in the stasis field, she’d looked so lovely despite her distress that Ashara’s heart had leapt in her chest as soon as she’d laid eyes on her…

…When she walked into Liara’s office on Illium, she had been so nervous. Ashley’s rejection on Horizon had hurt badly enough, but if Liara reacted the same way, she didn’t know what she’d do. Instead, when the asari had turned around, there had been such enthusiasm and affection in her smile, and when they kissed, Ashara felt more alive than in any moment since she’d woken up on the Lazarus station…

“You’re doing great, beloved.” Each time the asari pushes, a lance of pain runs though her, and Shepard picks out more happy moments. Liara’s contractions are starting to come more frequently now, and Ashara feels the strain in her wife’s body almost as if it was her own, but the loving memories help to keep their minds off of the hurt.

…As the lightning storm cleared from the room, Liara helped her to her feet. Looking up at the information broker, Ashara saw her as she never had before. The way that she had cracked the Shadow Broker’s arrogant façade and then destroyed him had been truly impressive and more than ever, she hoped she would be able to be with her again…

…Standing in front of the make-shift alter the crew had constructed in the shuttle bay of the Normandy, looking at Liara walking towards her in her blue and white gown, Ashara could hardly believe her good fortune. So many times, she’d prayed for just one more night with her lover, and now, she was going to spend the rest of her life with her…

“You’re almost there Liara. Just keep pushing.” Doctor Chakwas’ voice sounds far away, but it still spurs a further effort from the asari, her hand rigid around her wife’s, even as Ashara feels the painful stretching in her own body.

Liara cries out, straining with every ounce of strength she has, and then, at last there’s a relaxation of her inner muscles, a feeling of relief that even through the bond is powerful enough to consume Ashara’s thoughts for a long moment. Liara’s hand loosens it’s grip and as her mind slowly untwines from Ashara’s, the words, “Thank you, love,” are left behind in a final echo.

The world returns and when Shepard looks up, Doctor Chakwas is holding up a little blue person that Ashara already loves so very much. Her skin is just slightly darker than her mother’s, her eyes are the blue-green of the sea, and as she listens to her first cries, Shepard can only think how completely, exactly right all of this is. Liara reaches out to take the newborn into her arms, and as she cradles her, she turns to Ashara and whispers, “Our daughter.”

“Moira.” Ashara bends over and kisses the baby gently on her tiny forehead before planting a longer, deeper one on her wife’s lips. In that blissful moment, next to her wife and daughter, in a house filled with her friends, all of the pain and the sacrifices that she’s endured feel absolutely worth it.


	16. You Never Forget How

Shepard rarely goes shopping of late. She and Liara can afford to order in whatever they need, and even though they’ve cut back on their work schedules so that they can spend more time together with Moira, a baby ensures that free time remains in short supply.

Despite that, on this particular warm Thessian night, she’s made a detour on her way home from an unusually late day at the academy to the grocery store. While human women experience most of their unusual food cravings during pregnancy, asari sometimes get them afterwards, as their bodies try to replace expended nutrients, and a call from Liara has sent Shepard in search of…  
What is it she’s looking for, anyway? Ah, yes, Fasi berries and chocolate, that’s it. Though she does have to scour the alien food aisle for the later, it’s not exactly the Conduit in terms of the difficulty of the locating it, and helpfully, there are a lot fewer hostile Geth shooting at her while she looks.

When she gets to the register, the bored, teal-skinned maiden behind the counter practically faints from shock when she realizes who her customer is, and Ashara heads out into the parking lot chuckling. Absently-mindedly, she starts to sing a marine marching song to herself. 

“First from the ships, first down the lifts…” She’s off-key; out of practice she supposes. Before Moira was born, Liara had been practicing the piano in her spare time, and Ashara was enjoying singing along with her. Lately, though, they’ve rarely had the time. Still, she wouldn’t trade her life right now for anything. To have her wonderful daughter, this new life born free from the shadows of war and death, to know that she and Liara brought her into being… it really is amazing.

She’s almost to the car when she realizes that something is out of the ordinary; there’s a pair of humans walking in the same general direction as her. Both men are wearing long, dark coats in spite of the heat, which would be unusual enough anywhere, but this is Thessia. Most of the humans here are like her; bonded to an asari, and so while one is only slightly uncommon, two together are a genuine oddity.

And then, in the dim lighting of the parking lot, she sees it . Flashes of metal are emerging from their jackets, arms are being raised in her direction. It happens quickly, but Ashara has seen that motion far too many times to mistake the sight of pistols being drawn.  
Realizing they’ve been detected, the two men abandon their efforts to close further with her and cracks of gunfire shatter the calm evening, a hail of shots unleashed indiscriminately in her direction. Instincts honed over many years don’t fail her though, and the projectiles are met by a glimmering barrier of biotic energy. 

Ashara winces slightly, dropping her grocery bag, as the attacks impact the shield, but it’s no worse than uncomfortable. The guns are light weapons designed more for stealth than for power, and her fields have been honed under the focused fire of Geth Primes and Atlas mechs. This is little more than a slap compared with what those foes were capable of.

Her hand goes to her hip. She’s hardly in full gear, but she rarely travels anywhere without her trusty Paladin, an ingrained soldier’s habit that she’s exceedingly grateful for in that moment. The attackers are pausing to reload, but before they can, two shots from her heavy pistol slam into the first of them. He crumples to the ground, holes blown through whatever inadequate protection he’s wearing.

The second shooter hurls himself behind a crimson skycar and Ashara takes the opportunity to call out to him. “Who the hell are you,” she demands, what Liara calls her “Commander Shepard” voice in full effect. When there’s no reply, she continues, “Toss down the weapon now and…”

She never gets a chance to finish her sentence. With a glassy look in his eyes, the man leaps atop the car, firing his pistol wildly. A bullet glances off of her barrier, barely altering her stance, and a single, well-aimed shot catches him squarely between the eyes. His corpse slams onto the hood, and the wailing sound of the car alarm fills the silence left behind by the end of the brief battle.

Ashara takes a deep breath. The fight itself was nothing challenging, her attackers laughably easy to defeat compared with the skilled asari soldiers she trains. Despite that, this was still different. Though her job may keep her in practice, sparing isn’t the same as actual combat. It’s been more than five years since she took a life, since she looked down and saw bloodied corpses, knowing that she was responsible for their condition.

A part of her feels like she should be more upset right now. She’s believed that her killing days were behind her, and she wonders if the fact that they aren’t should be troubling her more than it is. Certainly, she had all the justification in the galaxy for defending herself, but still. She wonders what Liara will make of all of this…

Liara! A sudden shiver of fear sweeps through Ashara, chilling her despite the warmth of the night. If people have come for her, what about Liara? What about Moira? She fights the feeling down as she places a call to her wife on her omni-tool, telling herself that Liara is highly capable, that they have excellent security systems, that surely they’ve handled worse than whatever this idiocy is. Still, when the seconds begin to pass and the call goes unanswered, it’s hard to keep terrible thoughts out of her mind. “Come on, Liara, pick up,” she whispers frantically, knowing that her heart won’t start beating properly again until she hears her bondmate’s voice.

 

Liara is just tucking Moira into her crib when her omni-tool begins to vibrate against her wrist. She has the sound turned down for precisely such eventualities, and she ignores the call for now, kissing the tiny asari goodnight before turning out the lights and closing the door to her nursery.

Her beautiful daughter, she thinks. Her daughter with Ashara. Sometimes she still has to remind herself that it’s real, that the future they wanted for so long truly has come into existence. Her wrist buzzes again, and looking down, she sees that the call is from her wife. A loving smile appears on her lips and she answers. “Ashara. I was just….”

Her words die in her throat as Shepard’s image appears in front of her. Her wife’s pistol is in her hand and fear is etched on her face, only slowly ebbing as she begins to speak. “Liara! Oh, thank god! Are you and Moira okay?”

“We are fine, Ashara. What is wrong?”

“Someone just tried to kill me.”

In a moment of panic Liara re-assesses the image in front of her, looking for any signs of injury, but to her relief, she doesn’t see any. “Are you all right, love?”

“I’m fine, it was just two guys, but I’m worried that it might be part of a bigger move.” Liara can see Shepard’s expression moving closer to being normal, but she still sounds concerned. “I’m sending you my current location. Make sure you two are safe and then call the authorities and tell them to get over there. I’m on my way home just in case.”

 

Fifteen minutes of the sort of driving she’s trying to not engage in anymore later, Shepard’s skycar pulls into her garage. Arriving there, she’s met by her bondmate, a dark blue robe pulled over her nightgown and an expression of obvious distress on her lovely face. As she gets out of the car, Liara pulls her close, kissing her with a force born of relief, and Shepard feels the tell-tale bulge of a pistol in her pocket. “Ashara. Thank the Goddess you are safe.”

She runs her hands over the asari’s back, feeling her in her arms, warm and present. She knew she was all right from the call, but the physical reminder is still important to Shepard. “I am. Is everything still normal here?”

“It is. I ran security scans of the estate. Everything is as it should be.”

“And Moira?”

“Sleeping peacefully upstairs, love.”

Good, she thinks. Let her daughter rest. She doesn’t need to be dragged into whatever madness this is. “So, what the hell was this then? Two lightly armed humans tried to shoot me in a grocery store parking lot. Does that make sense to you?”

Liara smiles, clearly trying to lessen the tension Ashara is feeling. “Certainly, that seems grossly inadequate to defeat the great Commander Shepard.”

“Yeah,” she agrees, but even as she grins slightly at her wife’s compliment, her mind is racing, trying to get the bottom of what just happened. “Frankly, the whole thing was amateurish. I’d write it off as random lunatics, except… the attackers were human. What the hell were two humans doing on Thessia and how did they know where I was going to be? Something isn’t right here.”

“That may be. Perhaps the police will discover more. I spoke with them shortly before you arrived and they have found the bodies. A detective will be here soon to talk with you and afterwards, we can begin our own inquiries.” Ashara nods, Liara’s calm tone helping to settle her mind. Her wife brushes a hand delicately over her cheek. “In the meantime, are you feeling all right, Ashara? I know that it has been a long time since you were in battle…”

“And since I killed anyone. I’m fine.” Now that she knows her family is safe, she feels surprisingly okay, considering. “It comes back so quickly… The things I’ve tried to stop doing, should it be so easy to do them again?”

“You told me when Aethya approached you about this job that being a soldier was a part of who you are. I think that perhaps you will always be able to do those things, even if you chose not to do so on a regular basis.”

Ashara smiles wearily. “It’s probably just as well. Even if I’m retired from the Alliance, I don’t think I’d feel comfortable if I couldn’t still take care of myself.”

Liara gives her a gentle kiss. “Of that love, there is little danger.”


	17. The Things That Matter

Five months earlier…

“So.” Slowly sipping her coffee, Miranda stares at Jack across the café table. The ex-convict looks surprisingly respectable in her Alliance uniform and Miranda’s trying to stop herself from being distracted by thoughts of peeling the shorter woman out of it. “Don’t you think there’s something we should talk about?”

“Hey, you were the one who scheduled this little mid-day meeting. I would’ve been perfectly happy checking out new biotic amps.” She laughs. “You know, stealing shit kinda loses its appeal when I can just get the Alliance to pay for it instead.”

Expensing biotic amps. Miranda shakes her head. Jack’s changed so much from the woman Shepard let out of cryonic freeze six years ago and it’s time to find out just how far that growth extends. “Jack, you know very well the reason we need to talk. Lately, every time we meet, you try to get me to sleep with you and then act like it meant nothing.”

Jack smirks. “Try to?”

“All right, you succeed in getting me to sleep with you. But my point remains. Not withstanding what you think of me, I can understand the appeal of meaningless sex. But we’re at three times now. First at the academy, then after Zaeed’s funeral, and now at this conference. The last two times we ended up spending the night together. Now, I will admit that I am no expert on relationships, but that has to have some significance.”

“What? I can’t just mean that you have a great body and I’m pretty damn good at fucking it?”

“Jack.” Miranda gives her the best disapproving look she can muster. In the past that stare stood a pretty good chance of provoking Jack into trying to hit her, but that’s the point of employing it here. It says, “I reject your approach. You can either lash out, or try something different,” and she wants to see which Jack will chose.

“I dunno what this means, okay. I just… “ She picks at her muffin. “I keep thinking about you.” There’s unease in her voice, a sense that she’s far from her comfort zone.

Miranda’s natural impulse is to keep pushing her, to exploit the advantage she has right now, but she decides to let it go instead. They’ve both done that enough. “I think about you too. Look, we don’t exactly like each other. We’re different in a lot of ways. But I think we get each other and we obviously have some kind of a connection, which is not an easy thing for people like us to find. Half the people who are interested in me just want me for my looks…”

“Real humble there, cheerleader.” There’s no malice in Jack’s taunt though.

“Weren’t you the one who said I had a great body?”

“You really do.”

“Thank you. And the other half mostly want to hear stories about the great Commander Shepard. You’re different. You know all of the bad things I was involved with, and while I can’t say that you don’t judge me, you’re still here.”

Jack laughs, but her tone is as much self-effacing as mocking. “And you know what a messed-up bitch I am. So I guess we’re even. What exactly are you suggesting then?”

That gives her pause and she takes a bite of her sandwich, chewing to cover her hesitation. Just what is she proposing now that Jack is willing to listen? What does she want?

Her life isn’t bad. She and Oriana have stayed close, but though they talk frequently and she’s immensely grateful for that, she only sees her a few times a year. Her sister has graduate school, and friends, and boyfriends, and Miranda shouldn’t use that relationship as a substitute for a personal life.

She keeps in touch with a few of the old crew: Shepard, Jacob, and Tali of all people. The quarian has proven to be a useful consultant on tech matters. The Leviathan artifact Shepard passed along, the post-mortem analysis of Reaper barriers; her insights into energy field technology are remarkable. But while the job in Alliance R&D and the friends that she has are nice, clearly, Miranda wants more or else she wouldn’t be having this uncomfortable conversation.

“I’m not totally sure Jack. You have your life and I have mine. But I think I’d like it if we could try to visit each other from time to time, and perhaps admit that this does mean something. To both of us.”

“Hah! You’re asking me to go steady like we’re a bunch of stupid fucking kids?” For a moment Miranda feels more rejected than she’s comfortable with but then Jack’s expression softens. “Sorry. Shit. I probably know less about relationships than you and that makes me act like more of a bitch than usual. But I do want to keep doing this, whatever the hell it is.”

It’s not the most romantic thing Miranda’s ever heard, but if she wanted conventional romance, she should've stopped this a long time ago. “Fair enough. Now, what do you say we finish our lunch, go back to my hotel room and celebrate our new understanding. I still have a couple of hours before the barrier demonstration.”

Jack licks her lips. “Sure thing. This time though,” she cocks her head suggestively, “It’s my turn to wear it.”

Miranda blushes, but her face isn’t the only part of her body she can feel starting to respond. Life is not bad at all.

 

The spaceport lounge on Palaven buzzes around him, thousands of beings from a dozen or more species scurrying to make their flights, but Javik is calm, feeling the peace that comes from having reached the end of a very different kind of journey. It’s taken him five long years, but at last, he has found the answer to his question. He knows why it is that his cycle failed against the Reapers and this one succeeded.

His first thoughts had been self-serving ways of gratifying his pride. Victory came because the Protheans had disabled the Keeper signal, which bought time to prepare for the Reaper attack that his people had not had. And yet, that answer proved insufficient. The foolish leaders of this cycle had largely ignored Shepard’s warnings and wasted most of the time her admittedly impressive struggles had bought them.

True, her asari had used the extra years to find the Crucible blueprints on Mars, without which there would not have been success. But even after the Reapers devastating attack on the Citadel in his cycle, his people had controlled more worlds, commanded more warships, and possessed more sophisticated technology than these primitives. Why had they failed?

He has spent these last five years searching for the answer to that question. He spoke to soldiers and survivors, visited all that his people left behind, and studied what he could find about Shepard and the Normandy, who had been at the heart of the victory and he has an answer: motivation.

That notion would have seemed ridiculous to him when he began his quest for understanding. A prothean warrior was trained to do anything for the empire. They would kill without hesitation, die without fear, and surrender all that they had at their superior’s command. By contrast, these primitives are undisciplined, unruly, and at times afraid. Motivation was, he would have said, one of the many advantages that his people possessed, not the reason for their failure.

He would have been wrong. There were, he now realized, limits to the dedication his people possessed. After you left your family, gave up hope of finding love, and sacrificed your honor, death was no longer to be feared. Instead, it became a relief, a release from the burdens of life. Prothean soldiers would give everything that they had, but once that was gone, they would die.

Time and again, the people of this cycle had done more than that. They had gone beyond what was possible, and to do that required a more compelling reason than hopeless duty. The stories that he’s heard have convinced him of that. The turian soldier who fought across broken ground through dozens of husks while carrying his wounded squad-mate to safety. The asari huntress and her krogan bondmate who slew a score of Brutes to rescue their stranded daughter. The out-gunned, out-numbered human colonists who drove Cerberus off of Eden Prime.

And of course there’s Shepard. He has no doubt that she would have given her life for her duty. But for her crew, for the asari… no, for Liara, he reminds himself. She deserves that much respect. For them, she gave more. She gave them victory when he had not believed in it. He expected that he would kill as many of the Reapers as he could and then he would die. But why should he have believed in more? What did he have to live for?

That question he’s still looking for the answer to. He doesn’t expect that he’ll find it back on Thessia with Shepard and Liara, but he still owes it to them to fulfill his promise to help the archeologist write her book. As for the rest, at least he knows to look…

“Next on Galactic Arts Now: The all-Hanar production of Macbeth. A bold variation on a classic human play or an cheap stunt attempting to capitalize on the popularity of Elcor Hamlet. “By the pricking of this one’s thumbs…”

Suddenly, the inane blather coming from the Hanar on the vid screen above Javik is cut off, and a somber-looking turian appears seated behind a desk. “We interrupt your regularly-scheduled broadcast to bring you this special report from Thessia, where sources are reporting that there has been an unsuccessful attempt on the life of Commander Shepard. I’m told we’re now going live to Alia Sarai, who’s outside the beloved war hero’s house…”

In spite of the troubling news, a small smile crosses Javik’s grey lips. This visit may turn out to be a good deal more interesting than the fulfillment of an obligation.


	18. Visits

“So, you’re telling me that these two idiots had nothing on them but forged identification cards, a few credits, and the guns they shot at me with.  You don’t know where they came from, why they tried to kill me, or how they followed my car.  Does that about sum up the current situation?”

Liara understands her bondmate’s irritation at the lack of progress, but she still fells a bit bad for Detective Belaya.  Shepard’s reputation can make her fairly intimidating to people who don’t know her under ordinary circumstances, but usually, she does her best to put them at ease.  Right now, Liara’s impressed that the purple-skinned asari police investigator doesn’t crawl under a rock and hide.

“Well, ma’am, we do know a little bit.  We’ve been able to determine that both men entered Thessia using the forged identity cards two days ago on a ship that had passed through a number of the Terminus systems.  Out there though, it’s difficult to access reliable information, especially since the war, and given that the cards were fakes, it’s going to be hard to determine who the men they really were.”

Shepard shakes her head before sitting down on her couch next to Liara.  “I guess it’s a start.  Listen, I’m going to look into this further on my own.  Please send copies all of the records of your investigation to Liara.”

The detective swallows, clearly caught in difficult situation.  “Listen,” she begins, “I have the utmost respect for you and what you did for the galaxy, but there are rules.  This is a police matter, and, um, you’re not with the police.”

Liara fixes her with an icy stare.  Her anger is much more likely than her wife’s to run cold, especially with strangers.  “Detective, if it would make you feel better, I can call Councilor Tevos and get her authorization for the records to be sent to us.”

Belaya sighs, resigning herself to defeat.  “No, Doctor T’Soni.  That won’t be necessary.  I’ll have them sent over to you immediately.”

“Thank you.”  Liara rewards her cooperation with a small smile.  “Is there anything else you wanted to let us know?”

“No, that’s all.  I’ll see myself out.”

When she’s gone, Shepard turns towards Liara.  “This still doesn’t feel right, does it?”

“No, love, it does not.  We have both had enough dealings with assassins to know that in many respects, this attack seems like the work of professionals.  They followed you, they struck in an isolated place, and they carried nothing to identify themselves in case they failed.”

“Except if they were pros, then why was the attack itself so incompetent?  Two guys with light pistols against a former Specter?”

“Against you.”  She kisses her bondmate on the cheek.  “I don’t know, and that makes me worry that there is a larger picture we’re not seeing.”

Ashara wraps her arms around her.  “We’ll figure it out.  After all, you ‘a very good information broker.’”

Liara purrs as she feels Shepard’s face nuzzle the top of her crest.  “You say the sweetest things, Ashara.”  Even though all she wants in that moment is to lose herself in the comfort of her wife’s embrace, she pulls away.  “But I should get to work.  Tracking these men through the Terminus Systems should be possible, but it will not be easy.”

Her bondmate nods in understanding, but as Shepard heads upstairs to check on Moira while Liara makes her way to her office, the asari still feels uneasy.  They’re not supposed to be doing this anymore, not supposed to be putting their lives on hold to deal with people trying to kill them.  She tries to tell herself that whatever this turns out to be, surely they must have come through worse already.  Saren, the Collectors, the Reapers: who could possibly be trying to murder Ashara that would be more dangerous than them?

And yet, it she came so close to losing her bondmate so many times.  What if their luck runs out?  No matter what it takes, she resolves silently, she will not let that happen.  They have fought too hard for their happiness to let anyone take it away from them now.

 

Javik may have come to a deeper understanding of this cycle, but many of its aspects still remain mysterious to him.  High on the list of such puzzles is it’s baffling tolerance of reporters, a horde of whom beset the last prothean the moment he exits his sky-cab outside the estate belonging to Shepard and Liara.  The experience is only slightly less oppressive than being swarmed by husks and Javik wishes it were acceptable to toss a biotic grenade in their midst as well.

“Commander Javik, “Faustius Marinus, _Palaven Chronicle_.  Is your presence today connected with the attempt on Commander Shepard’s life?”

“Commander Javik, Aillia Frie, _Thessia Today_.  Is there any truth to the rumor that you’re here to replace Garrus Vakarain at the Talon Five Academy?”

He ignores the initial inanities, but that doesn’t stop them from coming.

“Javik, Thalia Gevros, _Galactic Beat_.  Would you care to comment on the reports that you’ve been ducking a lawsuit filed by Kajio, the Hanar best know for playing Blasto.  He claims you assaulted him during…”

Enough of this.  Javik turns to the reporter, flashing the asari a smile as sharp as a razor.  “I do not waste my time dealing with such foolishness.  However, if any of you are interested is seeing what the jellyfish is complaining about, I would be happy to demonstrate.”

The crowd parts in fear, and Javik is able to make his way to the gate without further obstructions.  “Commander,” he says into the irritatingly primitive intercom.

“Javik!”  The human recognizes his voice and sounds pleased to see him.  Good.  There are few who’s opinions concern him, but she’s one of them and he was concerned she might have taken offense at his long absence.  The gate opens and Javik starts down the path towards her house.  A few of the reporters contemplate sneaking in behind him, but a disapproving glare accompanied by the sight of the particle rifle on his back quells such thoughts.

The red sun of Thessia is bright in the sky overhead as he walks down the path to his former commander’s house, and he notes approvingly that the sight lines from there to the gate are excellent.  The open grounds form an effective kill-zone, although he might advise Shepard to cut down some of these fruits trees in order to eliminate possible cover for enemy infiltrators…

He stops his train of thought there.  Of late, he’s trying to be able to appreciate the aesthetic qualities of a location, and not just it’s tactical ones, and this place merits such consideration.  The green expanse of the lawns, the gentle swaying of the trees in the morning breeze, the light on the small pond, have a value beyond the martial.  They are soothing, and while being soothed is not something that Javik has generally desired, he can understand why Shepard might enjoy living here.

 

Throwing open the door, Ashara grabs the prothean’s hand and shakes it while she pulls him past the threshold.  He looks slightly taken aback, and she can’t resist a small dig.  “Javik.  Still getting used to ‘the peculiar greeting customs of this cycle.’’  She lowers her voice as she says the last part, and her old squad-mate’s normally impassive face betrays a hint of amusement.

“Commander.  It is good to see you once again.”

She laughs.  “It’s good to see you too.  We just got the message you were on your way.  As you can probably tell, things have been a little crazy around here.”

“Indeed.  When I decided to come here, I had planned to help Liara with her book on my people, but it appears you may have greater need of my other talents.”

They may indeed.  Shortly after Moira was born, Garrus ended his stint at the academy and took a job heading up turian pirate suppression operations in the Terminus systems.  Doubtless he’d come back if she asked as would Ashley, but Ashara’s glad to have another person here she can count on close at hand.  “We’ll see.  Liara’s squeezing some old contacts, looking for leads.  When she’s done with her calls, maybe we’ll know more.  For now, the baby’s sleeping so it’s just you and me.  You want a drink or anything?”

The prothean shakes his head and together they walk into the living room.  She notes that he’s still wearing his trademark red armor, a marked contrast to the tan slacks and loose blue shirt she has on.  As he takes a seat in an armchair while she stretches out on the couch, she’s reminded of the party on the Citadel shortly before the end of the war.  He’d been ill-at-ease then, seeming out of place in casual surroundings and mostly watching the proceeding with a detached contempt.  She feels that despite the armor, his bearing is a bit more comfortable now.

“So, how have you been?”

 “Well enough.  I have spent my time attempting to gain greater insight into this cycle and I believe that I owe you an apology.” 

Well, that’s interesting.  “For what?”

“I should not have disparaged your relationship with Doctor T’Soni.  I realize now that it was a source of strength, not weakness.”

She smiles.  That, she could have told him.  “No worries.”

“About what, love?”  Liara comes into view, followed by Glyph.  “Hello, Javik.”

Ashara laughs, standing up to give her wife a quick kiss.  “He was just letting me know that despite what he used to say, you weren’t really a liability.”

“I am glad to hear that.  But in case he requires further proof, I’ve located some additional information on your attackers.”

“See?  I knew you’d come through.”  She adds another kiss to show her appreciation, and Javik looks slightly uncomfortable.  “What’ve you got?”

“The two would-be assassins embarked at Illium.  I do not yet know their real names, but the autopsy photos reveal that both of them had this tattoo on their arms, which I have discovered the significance of.”  She gestures and Glyph projects an image of a highly stylized squid.  A squid or…  “It is the mark of a Reaper cult called the Harbingers of the Ascension.”

“A Reaper cult?”  Javik is incredulous.  “I had believed that when the commander destroyed those abominable machines, it broke the grip of indoctrination on their victims.”

Liara shakes her head.  “It did.  These individuals have embraced this delusional faith of their own accord.  They believe that the Reapers were meant to transform us into higher beings much like themselves.  They claim that they left because our fighting against them proved us unworthy and that they are not destroyed for good but will return when we atone for our sins.”

Ashara sighs deeply.  It’s hard to believe that anyone could be that stupid, but she’s learned never to underestimate that particular capacity of sentient beings.  “I’m guessing these guys don’t think very much of me.”

“No, they do not.  They are not open about their beliefs for obvious reasons, but from what I could discern, they view you as a demonic figure.”

She laughs, half in amusement, half in disgust.  “Charming.  Still doesn’t explain why they sent such a weak force to kill me.  Doesn’t the devil merit more than two guys?”           

“Indeed,” Javik concurs, “When I heard about this incident, I thought it an insult that so few were sent to kill a warrior of your stature.”

Liara seems to weigh several possibilities.  “It could have been fanaticism and overconfidence.  On the other hand, it could also be part of a more complicated game.”

“Either way, I need to know more.  Illium, huh?  Do the local authorities have anything for us?”

“I am afraid not.  While they seem willing to cooperate, the group is highly secretive and until now, non-violent.”

“All right then, I’ll go there and look into it.  Who do we know on Illium that we can trust?”

Liara thinks for a moment.  “I have a few old contacts from my days living there, but I believe the most reliable person available is Samantha Traynor.”

Javik frowns.  “I did not like that human.  She always looked at me oddly.”

“Me too,” Ashara chuckles.  ‘Though I suspect for a very different reason.”


	19. Anxiety

“Goddess yes, Sam!”

With a final thrust deep inside her partner, Samantha senses the asari tumble into climax, and it’s the satisfaction of experiencing her pleasure as much as the physical sensations she’s feeling that causes the former Alliance Specialist to follow, her previous anxiety forgotten as ecstasy washes over her.

Minutes later, she’s flopped out exhausted on the bed, with the strap-on harness lying discarded on the floor and her lover curled up next to her under some very expensive silk sheets.

“So, Sam,” the teal-skinned asari begins, “When we were joined, at the beginning, I couldn’t help but notice you were feeling a little tension.”

Caressing her partner’s back affectionately, Sam reflects on the occasional downsides of sleeping with someone who can see her thoughts.  Denial isn’t going to work here.  “Yeah, I guess I am.  Or at least I was until you helped me, uh, work it out of my system.”

“Glad to help.”  The asari traces a finger over Samantha’s dark brown nipple, causing her to gasp slightly.  “Still, I am a bit curious.”

“I guess, um, it’s about Shepard coming here,” she confesses.

“Why?”  When they first met four years ago at a trade show, Nelia had been impressed that she knew the legendary commander, and Sam gets the impression she’s excited for the chance to meet her.  “I thought you two were friends.”

“We are.  But…”  She lowers her head to kiss the asari’s crest.  “You know how I can be kind of competitive?”

Nelia laughs.  Sam loves her laugh.  It’s high, and playful, and carefree.  Nobody was untouched by the war, but Nelia avoided the worst of it and Sam’s glad that her spirit survived intact.  “Now why would I think that?  Because you sulk if I ever beat you at Spires of Thessia?  Or because you sometimes put off melding so you can make me come more times then you do?”

“Hey, you don’t seem to mind that second thing,” she protests.

“Can’t say that I do.  I only thought I’d point it out.  Go on with the problem.”

“Well, it’s just that she’s Commander Bloody Shepard.  The Hero of the Citadel.  How was I supposed to compare with that?  I mean, I did beat her at chess the once, but that doesn’t exactly count, because she doesn’t even really play chess, and…”

There’s an affectionate kiss to her collarbone.  “You’re rambling honey.”

“Sorry about that.  What I’m trying to say is that she saved the galaxy about three times, and cured the genophage, and killed a proto-Reaper with a hand gun, and did a whole bunch of other stuff like that while I stood on the bridge and decoded comm signals.  I know they were important comm signals, but it’s still not exactly the same thing.  Shepard was always good to me when I was on the _Normandy_ , and now that she’s coming here I want her be impressed with what I’ve done since I left the Alliance.”

Nelia listens patiently before she deftly punctures her incomplete explanation.  “That, and you had a crush on her.”

Samantha can feel the blood rushing to her face.  “No I didn’t.  Well, maybe I did, but it was just a little one, and I knew she was taken, so I never told her, and…”

“Hey, don’t worry about it, silly.”  The asari sits up and kisses her on the nose.  “It’s Commander Shepard.  Who among us hasn’t had a crush on her at some point?  I mean, sometimes it seems like about half the movies being downloaded off the extranet on Illium are copies of ‘Shepard: Deep in Azure,’ and ‘Shepard’s Command.’”

“Um, yeah, ‘Shepard’s Command.’”  Nelia’s comment only deepens the blush in Sam’s cheeks.  The threesome in that film between the commander, Ashley, and herself in the starboard observation longue of the _Normandy_ was distressingly close to a particularly vivid fantasy she once had and she’s embarrassed to admit that she’s watched it more than once.

“You know you’re adorable when you’re uncomfortable.  Hey, I’ve seen it too.”

Sam traces her fingers lovingly over one of the white markings on Nelia’s cheek.  “Thanks, sweetie.  You always know how to make me feel better.”

“Besides, what do you have to be worried about?  In the last four years, you have,” she kisses Sam on the lips, “Helped found a extranet company that brings in ten million credits a year.”  Nelia slides down, running her tongue along the brown skin of Sam’s neck.  “You own a penthouse with a gorgeous view of down-town Nos Astra.  And,” she adds, kissing her collarbone, “You convinced your intelligent, fun, and may I say, highly desirable business partner to marry you.”

Samantha’s still not sure that’s going to be enough to impress someone who saved the galaxy three times, but as Nelia’s tongue continues to make it’s way down her stomach, she decides that when looked at in the right light, it is pretty good.

 

Leaving her armory, Shepard checks over her gear one final time.  It’s fortunate that, as Tela Vasir once told her, Ilium is like Omega with nicer shoes.  You can bring pretty much anything there if you’re careful about how you use it, and she’s packing quite an arsenal: armor, the Paladin, biotic grenades, plenty of warp ammunition, and last but not least, her beloved Indra.  “The best present you ever gave me,” she tells Liara with a smile.

Looking at her wife standing in the doorway of the room holding their daughter, Ashara corrects herself.  “At least, the best present money can buy.  You,” she adds, bending down to address Moira, “Are the best gift I could ever have asked for.”  The baby reaches out her tiny hand to tug on an armored finger and Ashara grins at her before standing up to plant a long, sweet kiss on Liara.  “Along with your love and support.”

“Well, love,” her bondmate replies when their lips at last move apart, “I hope that that gun helps keep you safe one more time.  I only wish that I could go with you to Illium.”

Shepard wants Liara to be by her side too, but neither of them is comfortable with the thought of leaving their daughter without either of her parents.  “Moira needs you here.”

“I know that she does and that you’ll have Javik and Elphi with you.  It still doesn’t mean that I like the thought of you walking into danger without me.”  There’s a knot in Ashara’s stomach when she hears those words along with the uncertainty behind them.  This is everything they’ve been trying to avoid; leaving Liara to worry whether she’ll ever see Shepard again.

“I’m sorry.”  She wraps her wife and daughter up in her arms.  “But I have to do this or they’ll probably keep coming after us.”

“I realize that.  But we still don’t know everything that’s going on.  It could be a trap.”

“I’ll be careful.  And speaking of traps, I’m having Cellia and some of the advanced students supplement security here.”

“Ashara, I can look after myself and we have excellent defenses already.”  She’s right and given how long it took Shepard to fully appreciate the first point, she hates to argue about it.  This time though, she has to insist.

“Of course you can and we do, but like you said, we don’t know what’s going on.  If this is some kind of a diversion, if somebody attacks here while I’m away…. I can’t lose you two.  I just can’t.”

The concern evident in her voice causes Liara to concede.  “Very well.  I do not want you to worry about us more than necessary either.”

Her daughter gurgles happily and Shepard smiles down at her.  “I’d never let anyone hurt you, Moira.”  She turns to Liara.  “And I can take care of myself too.”

Her bondmate smiles back and gives her a tender kiss goodbye, but as Ashara walks down to her car, she finds it hard to shake an unusual sense of disquiet.  All throughout her time as a Specter, she hadn’t been afraid of dying.  She had never wanted to lose her life, but it wasn’t something that was high on her list of fears either.  Letting down the galaxy, something terrible happening to her friends, the safety and happiness of the asari she loved, those were the things that had kept her up at night.  Now, though, with a wife, a home, and a daughter who needs her father, it’s hard not to think differently.  She owes it to them to come back alive.


	20. Ambush

The trip to Illium had at least had plenty of conversation to take Ashara’s mind off the danger they were heading into.  Though she’d once been a librarian, Elphi had taken to studying war with an impressive zeal and she’d spent most of the flight from Thessia using the opportunity to pepper Javik with questions.  The waging of combat in his cycle was a topic there were few other good sources on and her enthusiasm appears to be inexhaustible.  It reminds Ashara of Liara’s interest when they first unearthed the prothean, but focusing on a single topic.  Remembering the friction between her bondmate and Javik back then, Ashara is glad that he’s mellowed in the intervening years.  Besides, he seems to relish talking about war more than the myriad of historical subjects Liara used to bring up.

“So, did the Protheans have thermal clip technology and discard it in favor of the self-recharging design of your rifle?  Because we used to use something similar, but abandoned it shortly before the Reaper invasion because of the overheating issues.”

Shepard chuckles and turns to address the two passengers in the back seat of the sky car.  “Happened pretty abruptly too.  I woke up after a couple of years, and found out they changed all the weapons on me.”

Elphi laughs as well, and Shepard puts her eyes back on the path in front of them.  It’s hardly picturesque.  Illium defended itself pretty well against the Reapers, but it still took its fair share of damage, much of it from orbital bombardment.  The part of the city linking their spaceport with Samantha’s apartment in downtown Nos Astra is made up in stretches of ruins awaiting rebuilding, a grim reminder of the lingering effects of the war.

Behind her, Javik ignores the joking and replies, “There were a number of different power sources that we considered for our weapons.  However, it was decided that…”

As the prothean continues with his explanation, Ashara catches a glimpse of metal floating up from the ground into their flight path.  She pulls hard on the steering wheel, and though it’s too late to not trigger the proximity mine, her frantic swerve manages to avoid hitting it head on.

The electro-magnetic pulse envelops them, shorting out the thrusters and sending the car diving towards the broken terrain below them.  She’s lost the ability to keep the vehicle aloft, but she retains just enough control over the steering to mitigate the crash, and the car skids along a strip of relatively undamaged street, bouncing sharply several times along the ground before coming to a stop against the wreckage of a taxi cab.

She shakes her head, trying to regain her bearings.  There’s a cut on the left side of her head and she’s a bit shaken up, but she’ll be all right.  She extracts herself from her seat, and looking behind her, she can see that her passengers are relatively unharmed as well, though there is a bit of a nasty bump springing up on Elphi’s head.

 “I’m okay, Shepard,” the asari assures her as they all get out of the wrecked car, “Just bounced around.”

“Indeed, commander,” Javik agrees.  “Your turian friend once tried to warn me about your driving, but I was not certain until now that he was not merely attempting humor.”

A growl escapes her lips.  She’ll never live those damn tank stories down, especially not if Garrus keeps spreading them.  “It was a mine, okay, not my fault. Stay alert.”  She dons her helmet.  “I’m guessing this isn’t…”

Before she can finish her sentence, Elphi yells, “Sniper,” and dives to the ground, a powerful rifle shot exploding just behind where she was standing.  Shepard looks upward, but even as she locates the source of attack, her concerns multiply.  From out of the fractured shells of buildings and behind the burned out cars emerge more attackers, perhaps ten in total, most of them humans, accompanied by a couple of asari and a batarian.  Unlike the previous assassins, they appear well armed, and some of them have combat armor in addition.  Not all of them are on top of Ashara yet, the crash site being a distance from where they were waiting, but Shepard’s team is still definitely outnumbered, a situation the ex-Specter is fortunately accustomed to.

As they advance towards her position, a tall brutish woman with a shock of dark hair near the back of the crowd calls out, “Kill the others, but take the arch-criminal alive.  She must stand trial for her sins.”

Not goddamn likely Shepard think as she climbs over the ruined rental car, trying to obtain cover.  She moves nimbly enough to avoid the batarian’s submission net, the electrical web discharging it’s energy harmlessly into the wreck, but she’s not clear of the line of fire yet.  There’s a hard impact hard against her barriers, and she swivels to see a human with broken teeth and a nasty scar down the middle of his face about fifteen feet away leveling his shotgun for a second shot.  Before he can, though, she catches him in the face with a blast of biotic energy.  He staggers backward, the arms holding his gun going slack.  She puts two rounds from the Paladin in his chest, the warp ammunition bullets penetrating his armor cleanly, and he drops to the ground dead.

Meanwhile, she can see Elphi under pressure from two of the attackers.  Her former student nails the human with a reave, and he twitches as the energy saps away his life force.  The asari though, has biotics of her own, and she strikes Elphi squarely in the chest with a shockwave, disrupting her defenses and throwing the ex-librarian off of her feet.  The asari levels a submachine gun, but Ashara is faster.  A shot from her pistol pierces the barriers of the light blue skinned woman and catches her attention.  Shepard follows up by launching a singularity, leaving both of the assailants floating helplessly in the air, but as she moves back behind cover, a second, much harder impact shatters her own barrier.  She looks down to find a dent in her shoulder guard from a sniper shot.  At least most of the damage was absorbed by the shield and the armor; the hit will just leave a bruise, but somebody needs to deal with that problem sooner rather than later.

On her right, Javik has just finished crushing the batarian against the ground with his biotics, and Shepard yells, “Get the damn sniper!”, as she kneels to let her barrier regenerate.  Javik raises his particle rifle, and the beam of green energy bores straight through the wall of the building her attacker is sheltering in.  She can hear a faint scream coming from the sniper’s nest, but the other asari takes advantage of Javik’s distraction to slam a biotic blast against the prothean’s defenses.  Javik falls to his knees, and the asari tries to lock onto him with her assault rifle.  Ashara nails her with a kill shot first, a single well-aimed bullet penetrating her barriers and leaving her head a bloody mess.

Meanwhile, Elphi’s staggered back to her feet and even as Shepard’s singularity fades, she takes out it’s two victims with blasts from her Disciple.  That leaves only the second wave, a group of three more humans advancing from straight ahead along with two more of them coming in from the left.  Shepard gestures to her squad-mates to take care of the smaller group, while she hurls a cluster grenade into the midst of the larger one.

One of the three, a shorter man with an old Cerberus Harrier, is caught in the blast radius, and the other two dive for the minimal cover supplied by the ditch they’d just climbed out of.  Holstering her pistol, Shepard switches to the Indra.  Getting a clear view of the survivors through her scope, she sprays down the area with a lethal barrage of fire.  One of the two she catches in the throat, while the other, the woman who first called for their heads, gets off with only the loss of an arm, it’s shredded remains hanging loose from her side.

On the left, Elphi has reaved down one of the two in her target group, and Javik’s rifle dealt with the other, leaving only the wounded woman in the ditch.  “Surrender,” Shepard calls out as she reloads.  “I know you must have been told that I’m the enemy, but it’s all lies.  The Reapers weren’t going to elevate anyone.  They were only going to kill all of us.”

Her words have no effect.  Just like last time, the final opponent hurls herself futilely forward, her eyes blank, her good hand firing her submachine gun at the group before Javik catches her with his particle rifle, disintegrating her body in a stream of light.

With all of their enemies dead, Shepard turns her attention to her team. “Everyone okay?”

Elphi rubs her chest, her breathing slightly strained.  “That shockwave might’ve cracked a couple of ribs, but it’s nothing some medi-gel won’t stabilize.”  She activates her dispenser, and Javik nods that he’s in good health as well, his only visible injury a bruise on the side of his head from the biotic attack.

Ashara stows her weapons and as the adrenaline of battle ebbs, she starts considering the broader situation.  Unlike the attempt on Thessia, this time was for real.  If she hadn’t noticed the mine quickly enough and they’d crashed down hard, the subsequent fight might have been a lot uglier.  In spite of that though, she’s calm.  The first attack, feeble as it was, left her shaken.  She’d started questioning how easy it was for her to kill again, been filled with fear for Liara and Moira… It had been an off-putting break from the life she’d started to become accustomed to.  This time, though, the fighting was simpler.  Liara told her that the ability to do this was probably always going to be in her, and Ashara can see now that she was right.  She can feel the old Specter in her coming back to the surface.

It’s a good thing too.  Not only were the these attackers serious, they were waiting for her.  Precious few people knew not only that she was coming to Illium but when and by what route.  The implications of that are troubling and she needs to get in touch with Liara as soon as possible.  Ferreting out the solution to this mystery is definitely more her wife’s area of expertise.


	21. Investigation

Samantha can keep cool in a crisis.  It surprised her when she learned it, but in a real emergency, she can make herself focus and do what she has to.  When she’s just nervous though, she paces and right now she’s wearing a hole in her carpet.  Shepard coming would be enough to make her anxious, but Javik has her positively on edge.  The prothean always looked at her like she was some species of particularly insignificant insect and the prospect of seeing him again has her stomach in knots.  And now, just to top it off, Shepard’s late.

She’s just activating her omni-tool to call her ex-commander when she hears the knock on her door.  She opens it hurriedly, and when she does, she’s shocked by what greets her: Shepard, along with Javik and a slim asari who’s name she was told is Elphi, all three of them covered in dirt and a non-trivial amount of gore.

“Bloody hell!  Are you all right, Shepard?”

“I’m fine.”  The former Specter’s voice is level, but there’s a steel in it that Samantha hasn’t heard since the end of the war.  “We got hit on the way from the spaceport.”

“By who?”

“The same people that tried to kill me before.  That Reaper cult.”

Nelia steps into the room.  “Hello, Commander Shepard, it’s an honor to… Oh, oh my.”  As surprised as Samantha is to see her former boss like this, for her its hardly the first time.  Her wife doesn’t have that experience.

Shepard smiles.  Sam is always amazed how calm the Specter can be only minutes after fighting for her life.  “Hi, Nelia.  Sorry to make our entrance like this.”  She takes off her gloves and extends a hand to the asari who shakes it tentatively.  “This is Javik, who I imagine you’ve heard of, and Elphi, who works with me at the academy.  She cracked a couple of ribs in the battle so if you have something to bind them up with, that would be great.”

“Um, I think there’s some medical tape in the master bathroom over there.”  Sam had imagined being a lot smoother in this scenario, playing the gracious hostess, but right now, she’s just trying to not make a fool of herself.  Somehow, she should have suspected this might happen.  Some people just have more interesting lives than others. 

Javik offers to assist Elphi and the two of them head off, leaving Sam and her wife with Shepard.

“Listen, I’m sorry to be abrupt, but I need you to get me a line back to Thessia right away.  Are your comms well secured?”

“Yeah,” Sam assures her.  “We run an communications firm, so we have pretty good encryption.”

“Glad to hear it.  Give me a few minutes to make the call and get cleaned up.  We can catch up after that.”  In spite of the situation, Sam smiles.  Only Shepard can mix assassination plots and social interactions quite so calmly.

 

It’s just after dawn on Thessia when Liara is awakened by her info-drone floating into bedroom.  “Doctor T’Soni, you have an incoming call from Shepard.”

Concern banishes the fatigue from her mind.  Ashara knows what time it is here; if she’s calling, it must be serious.  “Put it through to my omni-tool, Glyph.”

When Ashara’s image flickers into existence, Liara’s first impulse is alarm; her wife is disheveled and there’s dried blood in her hair, but Shepard quickly moves to reassure her.  “Don’t worry, Liara, I’m okay.”

“You look…”

“I know.  Sorry I didn’t have a chance to get prettied up for you,” she laughs, “But it’s not serious, and you need to hear about this now.  The cult, they were waiting for us on the way from the spaceport.  There were about a dozen of them, pretty well-armed too.”

“I’m just glad you are all right.”  And she does sound all right.  Much calmer than after the attack on Thessia.  “Are Javik and Elphi unharmed as well?”

“Some scrapes and bruises, but they’ll be okay.”

“I am glad to hear it.  Ashara, do you think you three will be enough to handle this?  I can call Ashley and get her to bring the _Normandy_ if you need back-up.”

“No need.  The three of us should be more than sufficient to take care of these idiots.  You don’t need to do anything.”

Her words say that, but her face tells a different story.  For an instant, her mouth curls in a slight, skeptical grin, a small expression that only someone who knows her well would recognize.  Liara nods, smiling knowingly at her bondmate.  “Of course, love.  I trust your judgment.”

“I love you.  Kiss Moira for me and I’ll be in touch again soon.”

 

As the call ends, Liara does her best to keep her expression level, her face trying not to betray any sign of her concern just in case she’s being watched.  Someone knew where Ashara was going to be and approximately when.  Very few people had that information.  Only the two of them, Javik, Elphi, Cellia, Sam, and her wife knew they were going to Ilium.  Everyone else here on Thessia was only told Shepard was taking a brief leave of absence to deal with a personal matter.

Neither member of the squad makes sense as a traitor.  Not only does Shepard trust them, presumably they would have shown their true colors in the attack.  The other three are conceivable, albeit unlikely, possibilities but they didn’t know which spaceport Shepard’s chartered ship was flying into, information the cult would have needed to plan the ambush.  That leaves only surveillance.  Shepard must have realized that as well, which is why she was being so circumspect on the comm line.

But what kind of surveillance?  She doubts anyone could have tapped into her communications.  Her equipment was taken from the Shadow Broker’s ship and she’s upgraded it as needed.  That means it’s probably something inside the house.

Heading to her office, she double-checks the integrity of the computer system before running a check on the house.  Nothing is transmitting in or out right now, which makes sense.  Their passive security would probably pick up on such communications.  Unless…

She’s heard of sophisticated devices designed to only transmit when it detects that a system is going through a processing cycle, which is once every six hours in this case.  The window is only a couple of seconds, not enough time to allow anyone to gain access to the premises, but if you already had a device inside, it would be sufficient to send a short burst of data without being noticed.  The next window is in just under four hours, which gives her a little time to work.

Using her omni-tool, she directs Glyph to perform a room by room scan of the house and a half an hour later, the drone finds what she’s looking for.  It’s a small recorder/transmitter hidden underneath the case containing Shepard’s medals, impressively inconspicuous.

Removing the device, she sics her best cracking program on it and soon enough, she has access to the data inside.  Because of it’s size, it was limited to audio surveillance of the downstairs, but that would be enough to have ascertained Shepard’s itinerary. 

The internal clock shows that it’s been active since about a day after the murder.  Who was in the house at the time?  Javik, which is ridiculous, or… of course.  Detective Belaya.  She saw herself out, which would have given her the opportunity to plant the bug.

And then it all falls into place.  A police detective could have supplied information on her wife’s movements to the shooters.  The assassination attempt that made no sense wasn’t just a ploy to get Shepard to Illium, it was also a way to get Belaya inside the house.  But why?  What’s her connection to this cult?  Liara will have to move quickly if she wants to find out; in a little over three hours, Belaya will know her little toy has been found.

 

The luxuriousness of this entire apartment is off-putting, everything too soft, too comfortable for Javik’s taste.  Turning over a small crystal sculpture in his long fingers, he tilts his head towards Elphi, the woman resting her freshly-bandaged ribs on the bed outside of the bathroom.  “I have a question, asari.”

She chuckles, wincing slightly as her injured chest expands against the wrappings.  “Seems fair.  I’ve asked you plenty of them.”

“I am told that you used to be a scholar, a keeper of records.”

“That’s true.  The University of Auralia.  They had the best biotic gymnastics team on Thessia.  Go Spearbirds!”

He ignores this display of school spirit.  “And now you are a soldier?”

“I am.  And a pretty decent one, I’d like to think.”  Her light purple face wears an expression he has come to recognize as sarcastic.  “You know, for a librarian.”

“I did not intend to impugn your abilities.  Your performance in the battle was adequate.”

“Well, thanks.”

“My question is how did you do it?  How did you become a different person than the one you had spent your entire life preparing to be?”

Her usually cheerful demeanor fades and she looked up at the ceiling, as if intently studying some puzzle inscribed there.  “I had no choice.  When the Reapers first hit the college, I was scarred out of my mind, hoping someone would save me.  A Justicar maybe… I used to read _Justicar Heroes_ all the time when I was a girl.”

“Then, around the time I found the mauled corpse of my supervisor, I realized no one was coming and everyone else was just as scarred as me.  I didn’t have much in the way of combat training but I’m a pretty strong biotic and, I don’t know, I guess I had good instincts for fighting.  Everything else just kind of happened naturally after that.”

Javik nods.  “I do not have to change.  I could remain a soldier.  But the enemy I was born to fight has been destroyed and I do not find anything to replace it with.  I know that I should find something else to do, some new purpose for my life, but I look at this place, at these things,” he gestures in the direction of the many material goods filling the bedroom, “And they seem empty.  I do not know how to relate in a world where such things are so important.”

There’s unexpected warmth in Elphi’s bright blue eyes.  “I don’t know.  As a librarian, I thought I could look up all the answers, but maybe, life is a little like war.  Sometimes you just have to jump in even with lousy intel.”


	22. One Arrest

Sitting down on her bed in the captain’s cabin, Ashley groans wearily.  As her sore fingers unlace her boots and pull them off of her aching feet, the Specter reflects that it wasn’t until she took command of the _Normandy_ that she really appreciated just how hard Shepard’s job had been.  Brutal though the missions Ashley had gone on with her were, she got respites, times when Shepard would select someone else to accompany her. 

Now, she’s the one deciding who gets the breaks, not the one taking them.  The responsibility for deciding strategy, the lack of decent rest, the paperwork waiting for you when you get back… it’s a heavy enough burden, and all she’s been doing is wiping out the batarian pirates in this sector.  She’d always been impressed that Shepard survived the Reaper war, but lately it seems like nothing short of superhuman.

It’s out of respect for that prowess that when the bridge informs Ashley she has a call from Shepard’s house on Thessia, she manages to drag herself down to the comm room with a minimum of grumbling.  If Shepard could deal with the Council after fighting Geth Primes and Reapers Brutes all day, surely she can talk to her old friend after a few pirates.

The image that shimmers into existence however is not of the former Specter, but rather her wife and the business-like expression on the asari’s face gives Ashley pause.  She’d offered her help shortly after the attack on Thessia, but Shepard told her that she could take of the problem herself.  Now, though, things may have changed.

“Ashley.  I am sorry I do not have time for pleasantries, but this matter is somewhat urgent.”

“Of course, Liara.  What can I do you for you?”

“I need you to issue a Specter-authority arrest warrant for Detective Belaya of the Kosia Criminal Investigative Department on Thessia.”

She cracks a tired smile.  “Anything for you two, but just for the sake of form, why?”

“For now, the charge is planting an illegal surveillance device in our house, but I suspect that she was involved with the attack on Shepard.”

“Sure.  Let me get the paperwork together.”

“I have already prepared it; even though she is no longer a Specter, Shepard still has the forms.  They simply require your electronic signature.”

Ashley transmits the code.  “Here it is.  Do you need anything else?”

“My thanks.  I hope we will not, but I do not know.  The extent of this conspiracy remains unclear and Shepard and I may yet need to take you up on your offer.”

“Whatever you need.”  As the asari signs off, Ashley finds herself a bit conflicted.  As much as she hopes this turns out to be nothing, it’s hard not to be enthused about the prospect of fighting alongside Shepard one more time.

 

Getting off of the line, Liara calls Cellia into the house.  The dark-blue asari has been leading the security detail at the estate, but now Liara has another, more sensitive duty in mind for her.

“Liara, what can I do for you?”  When she was first assigned to the house by Shepard, Cellia had called her “Doctor T’Soni,” but Liara had insisted on the less formal designation.  A friend of Shepard’s is a friend of hers, and it seems particularly appropriate given what she has in mind.

“Cellia, something urgent has come up.  I know it’s not entirely in your job description, but I was hoping that you would babysit Moira for a few hours.”

She nods.  “I’d be glad to.”  She’s not as emotive as Shepard’s other protégée at the academy, Elphi, but Liara can tell Cellia appreciates the trust being placed in her.

“Thank you.  She is asleep now and there is a bottle in the refrigerator in the event she wakes up.  I know that you have your own daughter, so I trust this is not too unfamiliar.”

“Nah.  Oria is a little past the bottle stage,” she answers cheerfully, “But I think I remember the basics.”

“Thank you.  I will also need to bring a couple of the guards with me just in case.”

“Not a problem.  We’re all here for you and Shepard, Liara.  Where are you going?”

“On the offensive.”

 

Liara usually doesn’t drive like Shepard at the controls of a Mako, but this time, she’s making an exception.  If she doesn’t get to the station quickly, the device will miss it’s next upload and Detective Belaya will know that it’s been discovered.  She might go to ground then,  and that would significantly complicate the investigation.

Pulling into the parking lot, Liara bolts out of the car, leaving the two asari soldiers scrambling after her.  She brought them along because while she’s confidant she can handle one crooked detective, Belaya might have accomplices.  Bursting through the door, she’s met by a distracted-looking asari who Liara is fairly certain is playing some sort of game on her work terminal.

Liara may not be quite as famous as Shepard, but her appearance still suffices to snap the secretary to attention.  “Doctor T’Soni, I… What can I do for you?”

“I need to see Detective Belaya.  She has been handling the shooting case involving my bondmate.”

“Of course.  I’ll call her out to the front desk.”

Liara stops her before she can get on the intercom.  The less warning her target has, the better.  “There is no need.  Just direct me to her.”

 

Striding through the police station, Liara ignores the commotion created by her arrival, her eyes locked on her quarry.  The detective is standing next to two of her fellow investigators on the far side of the room, and when she sees Liara, she looks over at her, surprise evident on her thin purple face.

“Detective.  I have new information concerning Shepard’s case.  May we speak privately?”

“Certainly, Doctor.”  The detective’s mood feels wary as she leads Liara into an interrogation room and away from the crowd outside.

“How appropriate,” she thinks to herself.  The two soldiers wait outside. Liara worked this out with them on the way to the station.  Their instructions are to make sure she and Belaya are not disturbed unless absolutely necessary and to use the Specter warrant to make sure of that.

The room is bare save for a white metal table, and a pair of chairs that don’t look like they were designed to be particularly comfortable, but neither of the two asari sits down.

“So, you said you had new information.  What is it?”

Liara reaches into her pocket, her hand closing around the small, metal listening device she found earlier.  “This.”

She tosses the bug to Belaya and as the detective instinctively raises her hands to catch it, Liara takes advantage of the distraction to draw her pistol.  “Perhaps,” Liara says, her voice icy, “You would care to explain why you planted that device in my house.” 

The detective freezes, evidently searching for some denial, but Liara preempts her.  “Do not bother.  I have already cracked the encryption and have a warrant for your arrest.  What I want are you reasons and your associates.”

Rather than provide the answers she seeks, the detective reaches down, her hand going to her the pistol holstered at her waist.  Liara fires, but needing her target alive, she aims at Belaya’s shoulder.  The biotic round shatters the detective’s hastily erected barrier, but though she jerks at the impact, she still draws the gun.  Liara raises her own barriers, but Belaya has a different target in mind.  Her eyes blank, the purple-skinned asari aims the gun towards her own head, but before she can pull the trigger, Liara reacts, trapping her target in a stasis field.

Liara pries the pistol out of the frozen grip of her target as outside, she can hear the squad room erupt in chaos at the sound of the gunshot.  Moving quickly, she repositions the detective’s inert hands behind her back, securing her with her own binders, before opening the door to the interrogation room.

 Her guards are only barely holding back a screaming tide of outraged police officers.  Both have their weapons drawn, and one of them is brandishing the data pad containing the arrest warrant.  In that moment, Liara wishes that she had Ashara’ command voice; her bondmate could always make herself heard over the din of battle, something the generally soft-spoken asari isn’t nearly as good at.  Still, her reappearance does seem to get some attention and after several attempts at calling for order, she manages to get a few words understood.

“I am here on Specter business.  I have an arrest warrant for that detective on the accusation of criminal espionage issued under the authority of Ashley Williams.  When I informed Belaya of this, she drew her gun and attempted to take her own life.  I have restrained her.”

An older asari with light blue skin whose uniform indicates she’s in charge steps to the front of the crowd.  “Doctor, I’m Captain Ranie.  Allow me to see this warrant.”

Liara nods and the asari is handed the data pad which she examines while glancing inside the interrogation room.  Belaya is starting to come out of the stasis field, and she immediately begins to strain frantically against the binders.

“The documents seem to be in order,” the supervisor acknowledges before turning to her handcuffed subordinate.  “Is this true, detective?  Why did you do this?”  There’s no acknowledgement though, the prisoner continuing to strain against her bonds, her eyes still vacant.  “What’s wrong with her?”

“I am not certain,” Liara replies.  “She…”  Before the information broker can continue, there’s a dribble of blood from the detective’s mouth and she doubles over in front of the captain.

“Shit,” one of the other detectives cries out,  “She’s trying to swallow her tongue!”

Grasping Belaya’s jaws with a biotic field, Liara forces the prisoner’s mouth open, preventing her from severing the entire muscle.  Belaya writhes desperately, trying with all her might to get free but Liara is too strong, her powers preventing her from closing her mouth.

Medi-gel is applied to the wound and the captain calls for a sedative.  A minute and more tranquilizers than Liara would have thought necessary for someone that size later, Belaya is rendered unconscious and Liara turns back to Ranie.  “As I was just explaining, I’m not certain why her reaction was so extreme, but it seems prudent to take the detective to the nearest secure psychiatric facility to investigate further.”

“And run some tests,” Liara adds silently as the slumbering form of Belaya is being carried out of the station.  There’s something suspiciously familiar about the trance that the detective went into before she tried to kill herself, and if Liara’s right, Ashley’s help may not be all that they need to deal with this problem.


	23. Making Connections

“So,” Samantha informs Shepard, “I’ve got the search program up and running.  Hopefully, if there was any recent comm traffic within the parameters I’ve specified, I’ll be able to trace the calls back to their source.”

Nelia seems a bit concerned with this plan.  “Is that, um, entirely legal?

There’s a mischievous gleam in the former specialist’s brown eyes.  “I might be skirting the edge of various computer trespass laws.  But if the people who run the Nos Astra communications hub didn’t want me tapping into their data streams, they should have secured them better.”  She pauses.  “Which is what I’ll tell the police when I’m arrested.”

“Don’t worry about it,” Shepard laughs.  “I’m pretty sure I’ve got enough pull to keep you out of prison.”

“I’m glad to hear that.” Nelia gives Sam a quick kiss on the cheek.  “She’s way too cute to go to jail.”

Samantha blushes.  “Well, in any case, it may be a little while before I have anything for you.”

“Let me get us some sandwiches while we’re waiting,” Nelia offers.  “Biotic use and all that.”

“Thanks.”  The teal asari heads off to the kitchen and Shepard turns to Samantha.  “I like her.  You two seem well matched.”

“Yeah.  She’s pretty great.”  A goofy smile spreads across Sam’s face and  Shepard wonders if she looks like that when she talks about Liara.  Probably, but that’s okay.  If her love for her wife makes her look a little silly sometimes, well, she’s confidant her reputation for toughness can survive it.

“How’d you meet her?”

“At a trade show.  After I left the Alliance, I was at working for this communications company, Stellar Integration.  It was okay I guess, but after the _Normandy_ , it was kinda boring.  That’s what I thought I wanted, but too much of a good thing and all that.  Anyway, they sent me to the show and Nelia was working at one of the booths, demoing comm relays.  I started yammering on about technical specifications, and we ended up at a bar afterwards talking shop.  Both of us thought we were smarter then our bosses, and so, about six drinks later, we decided to prove it by founding our own company.  She manages the business side of things, and I do the tech.  We started dating about a year later and got married a year and a half after that.”

“I’m really glad things have worked out so well for you.” After the troubles that some of her crew have had since the war, it warms Ashara’s heart to see Sam’s happiness.

“And how about you?  I mean, aside from all of this.”

“Aside from this, I’m good.  Liara and I are very happy, and Moira’s great.  A lot of work, but completely worth it.”  She can feel that smile coming on.  “As for work, it’s satisfying.  I still do some diplomacy, but mostly it’s the academy.  Keeps me in practice and I like teaching the students there.”

“Well, if anyone deserves it, it’s you after everything you went through.”

Ashara sighs.  “We all went through it.”

“Not like you, Commander.  Really, you made the rest of us feel a little inadequate.”

Shepard never knows quite what to say when people tell her things like that.  Intellectually, she understands the role she played in beating the Reapers, but so many others contributed so much.  “You did fine, Sam.”

Just then, three things interrupt their conversation:  Nelia returns with the food, Sam’s terminal starts beeping that it’s found something, and Shepard hears what, if she didn’t know better, she could swear is the sound of Javik laughing.

 

“What a dump.”  Looking  down the street at the address that Sam had traced several calls from the vicinity of the attack to, Elphi seems unimpressed.  Not that Ashara can blame her.  The nondescript pre-fab building on the outskirts of Nos Astra looks like it should be housing file clerks, not an evil cult.

Shepard chuckles.  “I imagine that if you’re worshipping the machines that destroyed half the galaxy, you’d rather keep a low profile.”

They, on the other hand, are taking the direct approach.  None of them is an expert at stealth, and Javik is too distinctive to be mistaken for anyone else, so ground assault it is.  Well, Shepard can always hope they’ll surrender peacefully.  From time to time over the years she’d wondered why more didn’t.  Reaper thralls or Geth were one thing, but the number of mercs and criminals who decided they should get into a shoot-out with a Specter was remarkable.

Nor do the cultists prove any smarter.  She and her team are still thirty feet from the entrance of the building when two of the windows on the second floor open and assault rifles protrude out from them.  Shepard reacts quickly, tossing a warp through one of the windows, causing the unseen shooter to stagger backwards.  Their gun disappears from view, but the other one opens fire, raining rounds down into the street.  Elphi raised a biotic dome, shielding the group, while Javik’s particle rifle answers, the glimmering beam boring through the wall and putting a stop to the gunfire.

Shepard gestures to her squad, and together they dash in the direction of the door.  A biotic blast from Shepard throws it open and two shots from her pistol catch the turian receptionist in the chest when she draws a submachine gun on them.

The rest of the battle is unremarkable.  The lobby makes a solid enough defensive position and the rest of the resident cultists make the unwise decision to try and extirpate them from it, a solid wall of biotics and gunfire making short work of them as they funnel themselves through the stairwells.  The only real trouble comes from a well-trained human who manages to roll into the room under Javik’s fire and deliver a solid blow to the prothean’s midsection with the butt of his rifle.  Still, it’s only briefly a problem, Ashara picking him off from across the room with her Indra, and before long, victory is theirs.

 

An hour later, the Illium police are crawling all over the building, Shepard’s status as a former Specter as well as her reputation ensuring they accept the team’s explanation of what happened and allow them to stay on site for the investigation.  The upper levels are fairly boring, serving to protect the building’s cover as home to a low-end accounting firm, but the basement tells a different story.  Piles of military-grade weapons and a simple metal alter flanked by stylized images of Reapers descending from the sky reveal the true purpose for which it was used.

“I still don’t get it.” Elphi shakes her head, looking at the painted Reapers with blazing coronas of light surrounding them.  “What in Athame’s name could these idiots have been thinking?  These things killed so many people.  To see them as gods…”

“I don’t know.”  Ashara’s spent a lot of time trying to figure this out herself, ever since she heard about the cult.  “Maybe it’s how some people try to cope with what happened, with everything that they went through.  To believe that there was some higher purpose might be easier.”  The Reapers certainly thought there was a purpose to what they did, but their convictions had led to horror, just like this cult’s delusions.

“Well, that may be the case,” the former librarian shrugs, “But they didn’t seem to want to stick around to answer our questions.”

“Indeed.  In my cycle, we accepted death in battle willingly, but these fanatics appeared eager to die.”

Just then, an officious-looking asari in uniform comes down the stairs to join them.  “Commander, do  you have a moment?”  Shepard just nods in the affirmative.  She’s largely given up on getting most people to stop referring to her by her old rank.  “So, we’ve been trying to identify the dead upstairs.  Any IDs they had were fake, but biometrics have given us some hits.  Most of them were the sorts you would expect: drifters and criminals, but three of the humans stood out.  They all belonged to an ExoGeni survey team that disappeared on an expedition to a world called Ondren a few years ago.  Everyone the mission was listed as presumed dead and yet here they are.”

ExoGeni.  That was who the kidnappers that attacked Kasumi claimed to be working for.  The pieces still don’t entirely fit, but her suspicions about a bigger puzzle seem to be confirmed.  In any event, she has her next destination.  First, though, she should see what her wife has discovered; though she’s done it plenty of times before, flying off to an unexplored world without any idea of what you’ll find there is seldom the optimal strategy.


	24. A Terrible Revelation

Usually, when Liara was anxious while waiting for Shepard, it was because she was afraid that her lover might not come back alive.  Not this time.  This time, it’s the news she has to give Ashara that weighs on her, her anticipation of her wife’s return spoiled by what she now knows.

One eye is on the clock as she feeds Moira and rather than put her daughter to bed afterwards as she normally would, she just sits in her nursery for a time, cradling the little asari in her arms.  The peaceful sound of her daughter’s breath as she falls asleep against her chest provides comfort to the worried information broker, but Liara finds that it is also a subtle reminder of her troubles.  When Moira was born, Liara and Shepard had hoped she would never know war the way that they had.  It seemed that all of the dark forces arrayed against them had at last been defeated.  Now, though…

Downstairs, Liara hears the door open and she sets Moira gently down in her crib before going to greet Ashara.  As nervous as she is, when she sees her bondmate stride into the living room, she can feel her tension lessen.  Even at the worst moments of the Reaper War, Liara had been able to draw comfort from their relationship.  Though Earth fell and Thessia burned, with Shepard by her side, she had felt that they could make it, and she has to believe that they will again, one more time.

She falls into Shepard’s arms, kissing her wife intently.  She feels so good, so solid, and Liara feels the familiar sense of reassurance fill her.  The former Specter can sense the anxiety in her embrace and she caresses her affectionately, her voice gentle.  “I’m okay, Liara.  I know you were worried, but the fighting wasn’t that bad on Illium.”

If only that was her concern.  “I‘m glad that you are all right, but… that is not the problem.”

“What then?  Is it the leak?  You told me it was the detective investigating my attack the bugged our house.  Did you figure out why she did it?”

“In a way.”   She doesn’t want to tell Ashara what she found.  What she wants to say is that Belaya was just a crooked cop, bribed by the cult to spy on Shepard.  She wants to tell her bondmate that it’s over now, that all that remains is for them to go upstairs to their bedroom and celebrate the end of this brief interruption to their new life.  But that would not be the truth.  “When I confronted her, she attempted suicide.”

Shepard doesn’t seem surprised by this.  “That fits with the cultists on Illium as well as the original assassin.  Every time, they fought to the death rather than surrender.  It could just be fanaticism, but they almost seemed to want me to kill them.”

“Fortunately,” Liara continues, trying to stay clinical, to not succumb to her fear of what she has to tell Shepard, “I was able to incapacitate Detective Belaya before she could succeed, but her attempts appeared unnatural.  I suspected that she was under some form of mind control, and scans on her brain confirmed it.”

“What is it?  What did you find?”  She can hear the concern in Shepard’s voice, and Liara knows that she has to stop dancing around the truth.

“Ashara, I, I triple-checked the results.  There is only one thing we have encountered that is consistent with what the tests found.”  She hesitates, but she forces herself to say the word.  “Leviathan.”

 

One reason that Shepard is still alive is that when she gets bad news, when she finds out that pirates have landed on Elysium or that the Reapers have made it to Earth, she doesn’t panic.  Instead, she becomes calmer, her mind shutting out her worries and focusing on the problem at hand.

“The leviathans.”  She takes a breath, keeping herself steady.  The beings who once ruled the galaxy, who created the Catalyst eons ago.  This is going to be difficult, but she reminds herself of all that she and Liara have overcome before.  “That’s bad, but it does explain a great deal.”  The fanatical cultists, the previously inexplicable collaboration of the detective…

Her wife shakes her head.  “It does not explain this: why would the leviathans want you dead?  Shouldn’t they appreciate your role in destroying the Reapers?”

“I don’t think they want to kill me.  I think they want to capture me.  The flimsy assassination attempt here on Thessia was meant to lure me to Illium, and there the cultists were talking about taking me alive.”

“Did they think that those attacks would succeed?”

“I’m not sure.  The ambush there was more credible than the hit on Thessia, but there may still be another stage to the plan.  Three of the cultists I killed were part of an ExoGeni survey team that went missing on Ondren, an uncharted world near the far rim.  I think their masters intended for me to figure that out and go there.”

“Then Ondren will be a trap.  The leviathans will be waiting.”

“That would be my guess.”

“So what will you do?”

Ashara smiles her boldest smile, trying to reassure Liara that they can handle it.  “Spring it.  But I’ll have a few surprises for them when I do.”

Liara nods, but Shepard can tell that her mood is still grim.  “I imagine so.”  The asari waits a moment before continuing.  “Ashara, whatever the plan is, I need to be by your side when we execute it.”

“I want you there, Liara.  I really do.  There’s no one I’d rather have watching my back, but, what about Moira?  Shouldn’t someone stay with her?”

There’s fear in Liara’s voice when she replies, the fear of repeating the agonizing patterns of the past: Ilos, the Collector Base, the final push to the beam; her bondmate has had to wait for her too many times.  “No.  I cannot stay behind.  Not again.”

Shepard looks away.  She doesn’t want to keep arguing.  She knows what this means to Liara, as well as how strong her wife is.  She accepted long ago that Liara could hold her own against whatever the galaxy can throw at her, but she also knows too well the pain of losing both of her parents and she doesn’t want to put Moira through that.  “If something happens to us though…”

Liara cuts her off, her anger evident.  “Could you do what you are asking of me?  Could you leave me to face this alone?   I worry about Moira too, but if we die, there are others that will raise her, people that love her.  But I will not lose you and then have to tell our daughter that I abandoned her father.”

Her wife is right.  Aethyta, Garrus, Ashley… there are plenty of people that she would trust her daughter with if the unthinkable happens and Shepard couldn’t let Liara walk into something like this without her.  It’s not fair to ask it of her wife.  “All right.”  She hugs Liara tightly, assuring her that they will not have to be parted.  “Together.  But we’re going to need some help.”

Liara relaxes a little bit.  “Thank you for understanding.”  She plants a small kiss on Ashara’s neck.  “I will contact the _Normandy_ and let Ashley know we will be taking her up on her offer.”

“Okay.  I’ll talk to Miranda as well.  But if we’re going toe to toe with the leviathans, we’ll need more than one ship.”

“Indeed.”   Liara is calmer now, the frightened bondmate giving way to the methodical information broker.  “But we will need to get them quietly.  Our edge right now is that the leviathans do not know we are aware of their involvement and we cannot say how extensive their spy network may be.”

It’s true.  They’re going to need someone who can assemble a large force quickly, and do so without having to explain to too many people what its for.   That only leaves one option.  “Well, then,” she informs Liara, “I guess it’s time to cash in a favor from an old friend.”


	25. The Gathering

Jack still isn’t used to sharing a bed.  Like a lot of the things that come along with her new arrangement with Miranda, it takes some getting used to, and so while she’s enjoying her visit to the Alliance research base on Luna, right now, it’s 4:30 in the morning and she can’t get back to sleep.

Miranda isn’t having any such problems, and as Jack looks across the pillows at the gorgeous brunette’s sleeping contentedly next to her, she smiles to herself.  When she first met the woman, Jack had hated her not just because of her Cerberus affiliation but because she seemed to have been given everything that Subject Zero had been denied: money, privilege, conventional beauty.  

Now, though, she realizes that that perfect exterior was just that; a façade.  Underneath it, Miranda had been almost as broken as she was.  It may have happened in classier surroundings, but she had learned the same fucked-up lessons that Jack had: people sucked, the galaxy sucked worse, and there was nothing to do but grab what you could for yourself.

Shepard, girl scout that she is, had taught both of them that there might be another way to live, but knowing that and actually getting there are very different things.  Her kids have helped though, and now, with Miranda, she feels like she’s getting that new life, no matter how weird it feels.

She’s shaken out of her thoughts when over on the night-stand, Miranda’s omni-tool starts beeping with an incoming call.  Jack leans over, curious who might be calling at this time in the morning.  Seeing that it’s Shepard, she picks up the device, and without thinking, pushes the button to accept.  A hologram of the commander in casual clothes shimmers into existence, and Jack suddenly recalls that she’s naked under the sheet.

“Jack.”  Shepard’s expression is somewhere between surprised and amused.  “Wasn’t expecting you to answer.  Either you stole Miranda’s omni-tool or things with you two are going well.”  Shepard seems happy about it and why not?  The woman has always been a fucking romantic.

Jack grins and beside her, the woman under discussion stirs.  “Jack, who are you… Shepard!”  The ex-operative retreats beneath the sheets in a groggy panic before she remembers that Shepard can only see the person holding the omni-tool.

“I’d ask if you two are alone, but it seems pretty obvious that you are.  Did I call at a bad time?”

“Nah, the cheerleader here was just sleeping.  Tired her out I guess.”

“Give me that!”  Miranda has hastily pulled on a robe and she yanks the omni-tool away from Jack, who goes to find her shorts and t-shirt, while Miranda turns to speak with the former Specter.  “Shepard.  I apologize for that spectacle.  What can I do for you?”

Her old CO’s voice turns serious.  “Something big, I’m afraid.  I assume you’re familiar with the attack on me a couple of weeks back?”  Miranda nods.  The incident was all over the news for weeks, accompanied by a lot of wild speculation.  “Well, Liara has determined that it was the leviathans behind it.”

“I see.”  Miranda is stoic, but Jack’s gotten to know her well enough to hear the worry beneath the mask.  “I imagine that you will be requiring my help then.”

“I’m afraid so, if you’re up for it.”

“Of course.  This needs to be dealt with.”

“Glad to hear it.  The _Normandy_ can be there to pick you up in a day or so.  And Miranda, be discrete making your preparations.  The  fewer people who know about what you’re doing, the safer we’ll all be.  We don’t know the extent of the enemy’s intelligence network.”

The calls ends and Miranda gives her lover an apologetic kiss.  “I’m sorry, Jack, but I think that our visit may have to be cut short.”

“The fuck do you mean?  It’s just got extended.  You think I’m gonna let you go help Shepard save the galaxy again without me?  It’s been ages since I’ve had a fight like this.”

Miranda smiles, clearly pleased enough to overlook Jack having answered her omni-tool.  “I did not want to presume.”

“Besides,” Jack laughs, grabbing Miranda’s firm backside, “If you get yourself killed without me, where am I gonna find another ass this nice?”

 

“Thank you, Aethyta.  We really appreciate your looking after Moira while we are gone.”

“No problem, kid.”  Her father cradles the baby in her arms.  After Moira was born, it was odd for Liara to see the hoary old bartender playing the grandmother’s role, but then she had remembered that Aethyta bore several daughters of her own.

Ashara strides in, carrying several bags which, knowing her bondmate, mostly contain military supplies.  “If all goes well, it should be just a few days, but if not…”

“I got the instructions.” Aethyta nods, seeming annoyed at the reminder, “But you two will be fine.”  She looks down at Moira and informs the little asari, “Pretty much every asshole out there has already tried to kill your mom and dad and they’re still here.”

Shepard finds the matriarch’s words oddly comforting, enough so that she doesn’t get on her case about swearing in front of the baby.  “True enough, I suppose.  We’ll see you soon then.”

“You’d better,” she threatens.  “You’re not back in a week, I’m getting rid of all those model ships and putting in a bar.”

 

A few farewell kisses to their daughter later, and the couple is in their skycar, Liara sitting next to her bondmate as she drives them to the spaceport for the rendezvous with the _Normandy_.  The logistics dictated that this is the ship’s last stop before Ondren, and the rest of their team will be waiting for them.  Ashley and Tali, along with Joker and Doctor Chakwas are still serving on the ship, and with Javik, Jack, and Miranda all joining them, it’s going to be something of a reunion.

“It will be good to see so many people again,” Liara offers, trying to find a upside to their situation.  “Even if it did take another attack by ancient evils to accomplish it.”

“Hey,” Ashara rubs her wife’s shoulder affectionately, “If it weren’t for attacks by ancient evils, we might never have met.”

Liara can’t help but smile at that.  They truly have one of the odder “how we met” stories of any couple she has ever encountered, and it certainly allowed her lover to make quite a first impression on her.  “It is only a shame you never had the chance to thank Saren for his help in bringing us together.”

Shepard shakes her head in amusement, and then adds, more pensively, “Even back then, working with the leviathans never sat well with me.  We didn’t have much of a choice at the time, but I still wasn’t comfortable it.”

“I remember that.  And I cannot blame you.  I have never found an ally more unsettling, not even the Rachni.”

“And what they did…  They created the Catalyst.  They were the ones who started all of the horror that the galaxy went through.”  Shepard sounds tired, in a way that Liara hasn’t heard in a long time.  “I’d hoped that they’d learned.  That the price they’d paid was enough to change them, but here we are.  Maybe there’s an explanation for all this, but…”  Ashara pauses for a moment, the thoughts clearly hard for her to say aloud.  “If I have to, I’ll end it.”

The information broker’s heart aches to hear her bondmate talk this way.  When Shepard took the job heading the academy, she had assured Liara that it wasn’t combat flashbacks that haunted her dreams, and it wasn’t.  This was what had been hardest for her; having to make the no-win calls, knowing that whatever she decided, people would die.  Ashara’s been so much happier recently, love and the galaxy’s recovery easing her pain, and Liara hates that her wife has to do this again.  As best she can, the asari tries to reassure her.  “I know that you will do what is right.  There is no one who’s judgment I trust more.”

Shepard manages a smile, but the vulnerability that no one but Liara gets to see is showing.  “I appreciate it.  It didn’t… it didn’t turn out so badly, what I decided last time, did it?  Destroying the Reapers.”

“No,” Liara agrees.  They have kept the details of that final choice to themselves.  What happened cannot be undone, and inviting endless speculation about unknowable alternatives doesn’t seem wise, but Liara is confidant that Ashara did the right thing.  “It really did not. You saved us.  You gave us peace.”

Ashara releases a deep sigh.  “And I won’t let anyone ruin that.  Whatever it takes.”

 

Ashley is there to greet them at the spaceport, her old comrade smiling broadly at the sight of Shepard and her bondmate walking across the dock.  “Skip!  Liara!  Good to see you two again.  It’s been way too long.”

Shepard sets her bags down and throws her arms around the brunette Specter, hugging her warmly.  “Hey, I thought I told you that you’re the skipper now.”

“No way.”  Ashley is still smiling, but her message is clear.  “If the _Normandy_ is going into battle with Commander Shepard on board, she’s in charge.  No arguments.  I can manage the crew, but you’re in command of the mission.”

Shepard shrugs.  “All right, if you insist.  Is Javik here yet?”

“Yeah.  He brought an asari with him too, name of Elphi.  She said she works with you.”

Hmm, that’s interesting.  Shepard hadn’t asked Elphi to come, thinking that the mission to Illium was imposition enough.  “Yeah.  She’s one of my instructors.”

“That works.  Everyone else is here too, along with Miranda’s package.  And Jack?  Tali had mentioned something was going on with them, but it’s still kinda hard for me to believe they’re dating.”

Liara shrugs.  “It is hard for all of us to believe.”  It’s been a weird concept for her bondmate to wrap her head around; Liara isn’t really familiar with relationships that start on the basis of mutual dislike.  “But it seems that they are happy.”

 “Well, as long as they don’t put any holes in the hull, I’m good with it.  Joker told me you had to stop them from killing each other back in the old days.”

“Maybe it was just the sexual tension all along,” Ashara says with a laugh.  “We ready to go?”

“All set, skip.  Now let’s find these damn squids and make them wish they’d never crawled out of their ocean.”


	26. The Distance They've Come

“Just look at those two,” Shepard laughs, sipping her scotch, “You’d think they were a couple of high-school girls and not, well, them.”

Across the room, Jack is attempting to grab Miranda’s ass as she gets up from the couch, a move the operative skillfully avoids before heading over to join Tali at the bar.

Doctor Chakwas smiles warmly.  “You have to be generous with those two.  I think it may be the first time either of them has ever been in love and that can make anyone act a little silly, no matter who they are.”  She looks back and forth between Shepard and her wife.  “After all, I can recall a few stories from when you two first became involved…”

“Oh, goddess.”  Beside her, Liara blushes, before questioning the doctor, “I hope I did not embarrass myself too badly when I was living behind your med-bay.”

“Oh, don’t worry, dear,” Chakwas reassures her, “You weren’t that bad, especially considering just how smitten you two were.”  Shepard beams at Liara, and the doctor smiles.  “Just like that.  Nice to see time hasn’t diminished the feeling.”

“I doubt it ever will,” Shepard agrees, planting a warm kiss on her wife’s soft lips.

“I would think not,” Chakwas replies confidently.  “Still, there were some amusing moments.”  She looks over to Liara.  “Do you remember the time you asked me what her first name was?”

Shepard cocks her head in surprise.  “You went to Doctor Chakwas before me?  I never knew that.”

Liara’s blush deepens and she gesticulates in the air in the cute way she sometimes does as she tries to explain.  “I just… I did not want to appear too forward, and, anyway, the doctor never gave up your secret.”

“Well, I’m glad you ended up talking to me about it.”  Shepard pulls Liara closer and the asari nuzzles into the crook of her shoulder.  It’s comforting right now, remembering those days and being with the people who helped her to beat the Reapers, a reminder that they can do this as well.

 

Nimbly evading Jack’s hand, Miranda stands up from the couch she’s been sharing with her girlfriend in the Port Observation Longue.  They’re a day out from Ondren, and with preparations complete, the crew is trying to relax before the battle.  Miranda used to hate these sorts of social occasions; back she was the ship’s XO, she used to hide in her office, avoiding post-mission drinks and poker games in favor of paperwork.  Now, she feels more at ease, in spite of the slightly drunk quarian currently pestering her.

“So, Miranda… about you and Jack…”

“Yes, Tali?”  The whole day they’ve been working together, and she could tell the quarian has been dying to ask her more questions about her relationship.

“When you, you know, do it… do you keep insulting each other?”  Miranda gives her a look and Tali babbles, “Well, you know… it’s because I can’t imagine you two being nice to each other, but…”

In the old days, Miranda’s inclination would have been to either stalk away or make an unkind remark about Tali’s own failed relationship with Garrus, but now, she can just take it in stride.  “These days we try to save the insults for special occasions,” she quips, enjoying the confusion she can detect even through Tali’s helmet.

Ashley joins them at the bar, the new captain of the _Normandy_ apparently finding it hard to take her mind off the upcoming mission.  “Glad I could catch up with you two.  I know the installation of the disrupter went well, but are you sure it’s going to work?  Because if not…”

“It will be fine,” Tali assures her in the overly precise tone of voice common to drunk people trying to sound sober.  “Miranda and I have run plenty of sim-u-lations…”

Miranda interjects, “Obviously, no simulation is the same as a field test, but I’m confidant.  Besides, if it doesn’t work properly, Jack will never let me hear the end of it.”

Ashley allows herself to crack a smile.  “Well, there you go.  It’ll definitely be fine.”

“Ha,” Tali laughs, “Wouldn’t want to disappoint Jack.  I didn’t even like to go down to the cargo hold when she was there and now you go down…”

She takes another sip of her turian brandy through the “emergency induction straw” and Miranda shakes her head at the quarian’s double entendre.  “She really is incorrigible.”

“You’re telling me,” Ashley shrugs.  “She wouldn’t stop going on about how weird it is for the two of you to be together.  Still, it’s not always easy for people like us.  I’m happy you found each other.”

“Sure she is,” Tali teases, “You’re not the only former Cerberus officer she’s gone soft on.”

“Ah yes, Michael Bennet.”  Tali told Miranda about that while the quarian was consulting on the disrupter project.  “How is that going?”

Now it’s Ashley’s turn to look embarrassed.  “Fine, but unlike some of you, I try to keep my personal life at least slightly personal.”

“As you wish.”  Miranda tries to keep the smirk off of her face.  “I actually knew Michael by reputation from when I was with Cerberus.  A good engineer and from what I remember, he wasn’t involved in the worst stuff.”

“He wasn’t.”  Ashley seems to trust that that’s the truth and Miranda hopes for her sake that it is.  “He defected when he found out about Sanctuary.  Sabotaged the project he’d been working on and went over to the Alliance.”

“Well,” says Miranda, handing her a drink.  “Then here’s to fresh starts.  And getting back to ours once this is over.”

 

Just working with Commander Shepard has been quite a thrill for Elphi, but being here, on the _Normandy_ , going into battle beside all of these legendary heroes...  She turns to Javik.  “It’s like I got asked to become one of the Maidens of the Golden Sword, if you know what I mean?”

The prothean looks at her, his four eyes blinking quizzically.  “I am not familiar with that reference.”

“Oh geez,” she laughs at her own silliness.  “Of course not.  You were never a 23 year old asari.  They were just a bunch of heroes in some old stories who fought evil, that kind of thing.  I read all of them when I was little.  What about you?  When you first came here, was it overwhelming?”

“Yes,” he replies, a sarcastic edge in his voice.  “It was indeed overwhelming to be surrounded by so many primitives who had so little chance of success.”  He pauses, cracking the ghost of a smile at her shocked reaction. “I have since become accustomed to the situation.”

She gives him a smile back.  “See, that’s why I like you, Javik.  You’re very honest.”

 

While her bondmate chats with a few of the new people Ashley has recruited for the _Normandy_ , Liara joins Jack over by the window.  She isn’t as close with Jack as she is with Tali or Ashley, but they’ve gotten to know each other better through Shepard, and Liara still feels gratitude towards the people that fought by her wife’s side when she could not.

“It really is quite a view,” the asari says, looking at the stars go by while sipping on a human drink that Joker told her was called a pina colada.

Jack chews on her lip.  “I guess so.  Didn’t really get to look at it much back in the day.  I don’t know if Shep ever told you this, but when I served here, I used to sleep down by the engine room.” 

“So I am informed.”  That information actually came to her by way of the Shadow Broker’s surveillance tapes of the ship, but like so much about her old job, it sounds a bit creepy if you say it out loud.  Just as well Shepard convinced her to quit.  “Why there?  I imagine that there were nicer places available.”

“Course there were, but… I’d spent most of my life in one dark hole or another.  I guess that’s where I thought I belonged, at least till I met Shepard. Damned if she wasn’t the first person that managed to convince me I could do better.”

It always gladdens Liara’s hear to see the effect that her bondmate has had on others.  “She changed a great many lives.”  And none more than hers.  From a trapped archeologist to the Shadow Broker to their life together now… it really has been quite a journey.

Jack nods.  “Probably wouldn’t have turned out so well for me if I hadn’t met her.”  Perhaps uncomfortable with continuing on such a personal track, she changes the subject.  “How’d you ever land her anyway?”

Liara smiles, as much to herself as at Jack.  Once, that question would’ve flustered her since, for a long time, she had been uncertain about the answer herself.  Shepard was such an amazing person, and especially when they were apart, she would worry about what the commander saw in a recluse like herself.  Now, of course, her doubts are long since banished, and she can just laugh.  “Why?  Are you doubting my appeal?”

Big brown eyes her look up and down.  “Nah, I mean, she’s definitely got options, but you’re pretty cute.  Plus rich, which usually helps.”

“Do you really think Shepard is that shallow?”, Liara teases the ex-convict.

“Hey, I’m with Miranda.  Genetically engineered ass and all that.”  She snickers.  “Just kidding.  Any fool can see how much Shepard loves you.”  She pauses, and then adds, “Plus, Miranda’s got great tits too.”

In spite of herself, Liara smiles at the vulgar joke, and Jack continues, “And speaking of nice tits,” she cocks her head in the direction of Javik and Elphi, “How about those two?”

“I am not certain what you’re talking about.”  And then Liara takes a second look at the two of them sitting on another sofa.  The former librarian’s hand is on Javik’s knee, and the prothean has a relaxed look on his face.  “Huh.  I had not noticed.”  She’s been so wrapped up in all of their problems that she seems to have missed this intriguing development.

“I mean, you know way him better than me, but I can’t believe that pain in the ass managed to loosen up enough to meet someone.”

“Well, imminent danger does have a way of bringing people together.”  That night before Ilos, her first time with Ashara, Liara had still been nervous about initiating her first sexual meld.  Her feelings for Shepard were so powerful though, and she hadn’t been willing to face the end of the galaxy without acting on them.

“Yeah, speaking of which, I think I see your wife looking on our direction.”  Jack smirks,  “You two have a good night.”

Though a younger Liara might have stuttered with embarrassment, the older model just grins and returns, “And you and Miranda have fun as well.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> For the full story of Shepard’s first name and Liara’s insecurities, see the prequel story, “The Other Side.”


	27. The Night Before

Everyone else has left the lounge, the drunken quarian finally staggering out a few minutes ago, and it’s just Javik and Elphi now, sitting quietly on a couch surrounded by empty glasses looking out at the stars.  All night they’ve been talking; trading war stories and sharing observations about their crewmates, but now, Javik has no idea what to say.  He’s been a soldier his entire life, his talent recognized and cultivated from a young age, and this sort of conversation is not something he ever learned anything about.

A light purple hand rests gently on his grey one, and he can read her emotions like an open book.  In her body language and her pheromones, he can detect nervousness, excitement, affection… all of them are as apparent to him as if they were projected on one of the crude vid screens so ubiquitous in this cycle.  But knowing what Elphi feels and figuring out what to do about it are very different things.

“Javik?”  Her voice is uncharacteristically hesitant.  “Did you want me to head back down to the crew quarters?”

“No.”  He can manage that word at least.  He may not know exactly what he wants but he’s tired of being alone.  He was Vengeance, but vengeance has been achieved.  The Reapers are dead and if all goes well, their creators soon will be as well.  It’s time for him to find something else to be, and something or perhaps someone else to care about.

“I’m glad.”  A smile breaks out across her face.  Gracefully she slides across the couch, dropping herself into his lap and soft, purple lips press against his thin ones.  She is quite lovely he admits to himself; even though he knows that the charms of her people were deliberately enhanced by the protheans, he is hardly immune to them.

“I have never done this before with…”  He almost says “a primitive,” but instead finishes the sentence with “an alien.”  Thankfully, her smile doesn’t fade and he adds, “It is not something I am certain how to do.”

“Well,” she laughs, “I’ve never done this with a prothean.  But I think this should help us figure it out.”  As she leans in to kiss him again, her eyes go to black, and Javik doesn’t need to find words anymore.

 

“So, are you enjoying slumming it down here for a change, princess?”  Miranda’s old office is occupied by the turian serving as Ashley’s XO, but not-so-curiously, none of the current crew are staying in Jack’s hidey-hole by the engine room.  The dark corner of the ship was a place Miranda studiously avoided during her time on the _Normandy_ , but somehow, Jack’s jab about it lacks her usual fire.

“Not yet,” Miranda says with a seductive growl.  Despite their surroundings, she’s determined to make the most of this night.  Even without considering the upcoming battle, she and Jack don’t get enough time together to let it go to waste. 

Stepping behind the ex-convict, she begins caressing her shoulders through the supple fabric of Jack’s leather jacket.  The muscles beneath however are tense under her fingers, and her next words are more gentle.  “Are you okay, Jack?”

The powerful biotic shrugs, turning around to face her.  “I dunno.  Nervous I guess.”

Miranda runs her fingers through her lover’s short brown hair.  She hadn’t expected that; Jack has never seemed scarred of battle before.  “Shepard’s plan is solid.  We’ve certainly faced longer odds.”

“No shit, but I’ve never gone into a fight with someone I,” Jack hesitates, seeming unsure what word to pick, “Cared about before.  When it was just me, fuck, I’ve already lived longer then I thought I would, but this is different.”

Miranda isn’t quite sure what to say to that.  This is new territory for her too and unbidden, an image of Jack’s broken body lying bloody on the ground springs into her mind.  A shudder runs through Miranda and her hand slides under her lover’s chin, tilting the shorter woman’s head up.  The kiss she plants on Jack’s full lips is more tender than the fierce ones they usually share and she reassures her, “Don’t worry about me.  I’ll be up here on keeping an eye on the disruptor.  You’ll the one who’s going to be on the ground with Shepard.”

“That doesn’t mean shit,” Jack snaps, yanking free of Miranda’s embrace.  “These things can take out a ship too.”

“You’re correct, I suppose,” Miranda concedes.  Blood hell but she’s so bad at this; Jack isn’t the kind of person who wants empty reassurances.  She pulls the ex-convict closer to her again. “We’ll both just have to be careful tomorrow.”

Jack nods into her chest, but Miranda can tell she’s not okay.  Her whole life, Jack hasn’t had anything to care about, and now that she does, she’s manifestly terrified of losing it.  Miranda is touched to have inspired such emotion, and that’s why, for a moment, she lets her mask slip away entirely.  As Jack’s arms pull tighter around her, she leans down and whispers into her ear, “I love you, Jack.”

The moment the words leave her mouth, she begins to second-guess herself.  The feeling has been building for a while now, but this is the first time she’s said it, even to herself, and when Jack doesn’t reply, the silence leaves the operative feeling exceptionally vulnerable.  And then, just when Miranda is considering trying to take it back,  Jack looks up at her with those big, brown eyes, and so quietly that the operative has to strain to hear it, whispers back, “You too.”

She kisses Jack again then, this time longer and slower, and as the embrace goes on, the biotic’s hands starting unzipping her uniform.  Miranda slides Jack’s jacket off and before it even hits the floor, the operative runs her hands over the lean muscle of her bare shoulders.  Jack’s hands begin roaming over Miranda’s skin too, and as they tumble downwards together, the taller woman’s mind begins to empty of everything that isn’t in her arms.  The room might smell of grease, the cot may be narrow and hard and the morning remains dreadfully uncertain, but right now, those things don’t matter very much at all to Miranda Lawson.

 

Though she and Shepard would have been all right finding somewhere else to sleep, Ashley has insisted on bunking with her XO, letting them use the captain’s cabin while they’re here.  It was odd at first, seeing Ashara’s model ships replaced with books of poetry and Ashley’s personal photos, but sitting next to her bondmate on the sofa with the lights low, the changes vanish and the years fade away, the room becoming the one Liara remembers so fondly.

She and Shepard made so many memories here; rekindling their relationship after two lonely years apart, celebrating after they had pledged to spent their lives together, making love for the first time after the war, enjoying their wedding night…  A pleasant tremor of wanting runs through Liara and she pulls Ashara to her for a heated kiss.

Her wife returns her affection, but they’ve been in enough of these situations together for Liara to tell that she’s distracted.  “I know you’re worried, love.”

Ashara slowly strokes her crest, the jovial mask she’d worn with the crew dropping now that it’s just her and her bondmate.  “It’s just… It feels different than it used to before missions.  To imagine the life that we could have and worry about not getting there wasn’t easy, but actually having it and being afraid to lose it is even harder.”  Gratitude fills the look that she gives Liara as she explains,   “You’ve given me back so much that I’d lost: a home, a family.  The thought of that happening to me again, or to you, or to Moira; I can’t let it.”

“I know,” Liara says softly, curling into her wife’s arms.  “You and our daughter mean everything to me.   And we will get through this.  The disruptor is installed.  The reinforcements are waiting.  And you defeated the Reapers already.”

“We defeated the Reapers.”  Ashara kisses her cheek.

“And as you can see, we are both here, so I have great confidence we will beat the leviathans as well.”  She lavishes kisses along the side of Shepard’s neck and the former Spectre sighs happily.  “You,” Liara adds, “Have never let me down.”

“And I won’t this time,” Shepard replies, her words more certain than before, desire starting to shine in her green eyes.

Clothes are quickly shed while they stumble entwined towards the bed and as they fall onto it together, their hands begin to draw rising passion from each other.  Even as Ashara’s fingers are coaxing Liara’s nipples into hardness, the human asks, “How do you do that, Liara?  Why do I believe you so totally when you say I can do anything?”

Liara’s hand runs through her bondmate’s dirty blonde hair, pulling her closer as she whispers in her ear, “Perhaps you know how smart I am?”

“Definitely true,” Ashara laughs, giving Liara’s butt a playful squeeze.

“Besides,” Liara grins, rubbing the strong shoulders of the former Spectre beneath her, “You have already done plenty of impossible things.  Sometimes you just need the reminder.”

“Consider my memory refreshed.”  Shepard’s hand drops down between Liara’s legs and the asari moans at the feeling of skillful fingers gliding over her inner scales.  The darkness starts to form in the center of her eyes, and Liara moves to reciprocate.  Her hand finds Shepard’s clit and when her bondmate gasps at her touch, Liara reaches out with her thoughts to share the pleasure.  There are times to wait, to build slowly to the meld, but this isn’t one of them.  Tonight, they need each other.

The familiar feel of Ashara’s mind, of her love and courage, helps to assuage Liara’s own worries and when her bondmate whispers in her thoughts, “I’m not losing this,” the asari believes that with all her heart.

Shepard’s lips press against hers, and as their hands return to stroking each other, Liara lets herself be carried away by the feelings.  The lovemaking that follows is quick and passionate, practice and the meld allowing them to hit all the right spots.  Their shared climax starts in Liara, the thrust of Shepard’s fingers and the pressure of her palm overwhelming the information broker, and with a final stroke of her thumb across Ashara’s clit, her wife’s bliss takes her as well. 

They hold each other tight through their pleasure and afterwards, lying curled up under the sheets, Ashara’s body wrapped around her, Liara feels calm.  Though the pleasant hormones flooding her brain certainly help, it’s her wife’s presence that really matters to her.  They may be heading back into danger, but there’s no one she trusts more than Shepard to see them through, and no place she would rather be than by her side.


	28. A Frank Exchange of Views

Watching Shepard stride to the head of the holographic table in the _Normandy’s_ war room, Liara allows herself a small smile.  The doubts of the previous night are gone from her wife’s face.  Alone with Liara, she could  be Ashara, worried about her family.  Now, she’s Commander Shepard, the deadliest soldier in the galaxy.

Confidant and strong in her blue and grey N-7 armor, the undisputed leader even in a room filled with experienced soldiers: Commander Shepard can be pretty sexy, and in spite of the mission, Liara can’t help but enjoy watching her.  After all, if imminent danger stopped her from being turned on by Shepard, it would have been pretty hard to start a relationship when they did.

“So,” Shepard begins, “Scans of the surface of Ondren have revealed only one location that’s generating electricity, a complex here on the western tip of this medium-sized continent.”  She indicates the location on the holographic display before continuing.

“We figure that’s where the cult is going to be set up, and by going there, we’re hoping to draw out our real enemies, the leviathans.  I’ll lead the primary strike team down there; I’m what they want and so we’re going to give it to them.  Liara, Jack, Javik, and Elphi will come with me.  Miranda and Tali, you two will stay on the ship.  The disruptor is the key to our plan and I need you making adjustments as needed and keep it working if the _Normandy_ comes under attack.”

Liara feels for Miranda and Jack at that moment.  Though they already knew they would be separated in the coming battle, the asari knows all too well how hard that can be.

“That leaves you guys.”  Shepard nods in the direction of Ashley and the warriors standing near her.  It was a little odd meeting them; it’s easy for Liara to still think of herself and her old friends as being the crew of the Normandy and these are the people who took their places.  Still, Ashley has faith in them and that’s good enough for Liara.

“Shirat, Nadia, Gamal,” Shepard says, indicating the Drell vanguard, the slim, quiet N-7 Shadow, and the beefy marine heavy weapons expert, “You’re with Captain Williams.  Magnus,” she turns to the turian XO, “You’ll have the command up here.  Ash, you and your people should find a good vantage point and wait outside the complex.  Your job is to cover our flank and give us some back-up if we need it.  Any questions?”

Jack snorts.  “So, when do we get to kick some ass?”

“Not quite yet,” Ashara replies indulgently.  “I still have some hope that this can be resolved peacefully.  That means, Miranda and Tali, don’t fire the disruptor until you get the signal from one of the ground teams or you have reason to think that we can’t send it.  And you,” she indicates Magnus, “Don’t signal the rest of the fleet until we know that the disruptor works.  We’ve seen what these things can do to ships.”

“Yes, Ma’am,” the turian replies smartly.  It impresses Liara how quickly the crew snaps to follow Shepard’s orders despite the fact that her bondmate no longer has a formal military position.  Some time during the Reaper War, it’s as if her rank simply became “Shepard,” and that’s enough for everyone else to obey her.

 

Their shuttle lands in a clearing a few hundred years away from the complex, and as the doors open, Shepard gets her first taste of Ondren.  It’s pouring rain, a condition survey records indicate is the fairly common here, and Ashara is glad for her helmet keeping her dry.

Her wife has never favored heavy armor, relying instead on her biotics, and as the water runs down her blue skin, she laughs.  “Ah, the glamour of serving on the _Normandy_.  I have missed it.”

Elphi joins in the attempt to lighten the mood.  “Well, I’m just lucky to have gotten to experience it this one time.”

The foliage is thick near the drop site, forcing them to use their omni-blades to hack through it at points, but aside from their exertions, the jungle is unsettlingly still.  Behind her, the squad feels tense, especially Jack.  Flickers of biotic energy float off of the ex-convict and as they struggle forward, Shepard can tell she’d rather just skip straight to the fighting.

Taking point as usual, the commander is the first to emerge from the cluster of vines and lay eyes on their destination.  The complex looks like nothing so much as a temple, a multi-story building carved out of black stone and extending back towards the edge of a cliff overlooking the tumultuous ocean beneath it.  It’s alien in it’s design and strikingly primitive in it’s appearance, an illusion broken only by the two shuttles sitting on a landing pad off to the right.  In front of the entrance are two massive statues carved in a similar style to the paintings she saw back in the shrine on Illium, images which she can now see as representing the leviathans just as easily as the Reapers.

Beside her, Liara takes in a long breath.  “I see that these creatures have not lost their taste for worship.”

Jack is more succinct, growling, “Self-important fucks.”

The heavy metal doors in front of the temple grind open at their approach, and from it’s depths emerge a procession of acolytes, beings of many species, all clad in body suits and dark raincoats that suggest ceremonial robes.  Javik raises his particle rifle, but the cultists make no aggressive moves and Shepard motions for him to lower the gun.  From their midst, a salarian steps forward, his eyes glassy and his voice flat.  “Greetings, Commander Shepard.  You are expected.”

“So I see,” she replies dryly.  “You know, most people send an extra-net message when they want to talk, not assassins, but I guess I shouldn’t expect better from a bunch of Reaper cultists.”  She’s not letting them know Liara figured out who their true masters are just yet.

“A misunderstanding.  Our leaders wish to speak with you.”  The squad starts to move forward but the salarian holds up his hand.  “No.  Your friends must remain outside.”

Shepard levels her Indra.  “No deal.  You want to talk, my squad comes with me.  You want to fight, that works too.”

“Very well then.  Come with me.”  The salarian turns and all of the other cultists do the same, marching in unison into the temple.  Shepard motions for her people to follow and they fall in behind her, their eyes warily scanning their flanks for signs of an ambush.

The interior of the temple is dimly illuminated, but despite it’s primitive appearance, it is clear that that primordial impression is mainly for effect.  The lights are electric, and there are terminals visible through half-opened doors, presumably powered by a generator somewhere on the premises.  Everywhere too, there are more cultists, dozens at least, but they pay the outsiders no mind, going about their business with an eerie detachment.  “Real friendly,” Elphi quips, and Shepard notes that many of them have weapons on their persons, though they remain holstered for now.

After ascending several flights of stairs, they come at last to a cavernous ante-chamber covered with further images of leviathan and its supplicants and backed by a large balcony.  “There,” the salarian says simply, gesturing to the doorway.

“Wait here,” she indicates to the rest of her people, motioning for all of them but Liara to remain in the room.  Whatever the risks, her bondmate needs to be by her side.  The rest of her squad fans out into a semi-circle around the doors to the balcony, eying the mass of cultists warily.  Turning to Liara, Shepard gives her wife a small nod, a final reassurance that they’re ready to face this together.

When they step out onto the stone balcony, nothing greets them but ocean and storm, but as they approach the railing, there’s a stirring beneath the depths.  A massive form begins to move towards the surface, and the roiling sea parts before it.  At first it’s only a dark shape, but then the water breaks and the grey, armored being emerging from it’s depths become visible.  Leviathan has come.

 

After the mission to Despoina, six long years ago, Liara had joked that she didn’t want any more tentacled creatures besides herself inside Ashara’s mind.  It was a sentiment that the Spectre had earnestly shared.  The mental link that’s pressed upon her now has nothing of the tenderness of her melds with Liara.  It is a harsh, insistent thing, and though it seems that the figure standing in front of her in the darkness is Admiral Hackett, instead of his stern but compassionate visage, this version radiates a terrible grandeur designed to cow lesser beings.

“Leviathan.”  She is not cowed.  She has faced down Reapers and won.  She is not afraid of this creature.

 **“Shepard.”** The voice that comes forth is not Hackett’s but a deep, harsh sound that wears at her mind. **“As we have desired, you have come.”**

“And why exactly have did you desire it?  I thought we were allies.”

**“You served a purpose in our battle with the Reapers.  And now you shall serve another.”**

Their battle?  That’s not how Shepard remembers it, but that’s not really the issue here.  “Really?  Funny way of asking for a favor, trying to shoot me down in a parking lot.”

**“We know your skill.  We knew that you would survive and that you would follow the trail that we laid for you here.”**

 “And here I am.  What is it that you want?”  She has a feeling she’s not going to like the answer, but for the sake of the lives that may be lost if this comes to blows, she has a responsibility to hear them out.

**“The galaxy remains disorderly.  We are too few to bring order to the chaos alone.  We require your assistance.”**

“What exactly do you want me to do?”

**“You are Shepard.  Many will obey if you command them.”**

Garrus had joked about that once after the war, told her that she could be queen of the galaxy if she wanted to, but that kind of power doesn’t interest her.  “No.  My days of leading the galaxy are over.”

 **“Your wishes are irrelevant.”** The image of Hackett steps closer, looming over her. **“You will submit to our control.  Through you, we will regain the power which rightfully belongs to us.”**

“Are you really that arrogant?!”  She hasn’t felt anger like this since the end of the war.  “You made the Reapers!  You’re responsible for more death than I can imagine and you think you should be in charge of the galaxy again?  Go to hell!”

**“We are the apex of life.  There are no others who can bring order.”**

“And what will happen if I do what you want?”  She shakes her head incredulously.  “I’ll go around saying ‘The darkness cannot be breached,’ and everyone will just follow me?”

**“The thralls you met were those we controlled through our instruments. Our influence can be more subtle.  If you give yourself freely to us here, you will retain your reason.”**

Like Belaya, she thinks.  The detective hadn’t shown overt signs of mind control until she tried to kill herself.  “No deal.  I don’t care what your plan for the galaxy is, but it’s not going to happen.”

**“Insignificant creature.  You WILL submit to our control.”**

“And if I don’t?  If you have to crush my mind, I won’t be much use to you.”

**“It is not you who will suffer first.  Your mate is here.  If you do not submit, she will die screaming.  The friends you have brought with you will die.  You have a child.  Our agents will find her and she will die...”**

“Enough!”  She looks up at the fake Admiral, and her green eyes are fire.  Even the leviathan seems slightly taken aback at the depths of her rage.  “Don’t say I didn’t give you a chance.”  Shepard’s hand touches her wrist and all hell breaks loose.


	29. First Strikes

As the great grey shape of the leviathan hovers out beyond the balcony, the mass of cultists in front of Jack are watching it with rapt adoration in their dull eyes.  It reminds her of when she was in a cult herself, a lifetime ago.  She’d joined because she wanted an escape from managing her own messed up head, to let somebody else take responsibility for her, but this would have been way too fucked up for her, even back then.  The whole thing reminds her of the indoctrinated soldiers Cerberus used, and as the seconds tick by and nothing happens, she can feel the old anger rising.

“Come on,” she snarls under her breath.  “What the fuck is taking so long?  Are we gonna do this or…”  Suddenly, her omni-tool buzzes along with those of the rest of the team.  “Finally!”

The cultists all start to move as one, reaching down to draw an array of pistols and submachine guns, but Jack’s ready for them.  With a roar of uncoiling rage, she hurls a powerful wave of force at the center of the group, throwing them from their feet.  The less disabled among them start raising their weapons again, but they only manage a few wild shots before Javik hurls a lift grenade in their midst, the biotic detonation crushing the resistance.  Elphi’s Discipline pulses twice, catching two of the cultists that escaped the initial attack, and just like that, the room is quiet again.

 

While Tali finishes redirecting power from the ship’s drive core into the disruptor, she looks over to Miranda.  “Do we have a fix on Shepard’s location?” 

The operative checks the telemetry on her omni-tool.  “We do.  She’s stopped moving and Joker has a firing solution on her coordinates.”

Tali’s long, suited finger touches a final key and with a hum, the lights on her console flash green.  “Glad to hear it.  I’m ready here.”

“Good work.”  Miranda takes a deep breath.  Now, there’s nothing to do but wait.  She finds herself thinking about Jack.  Her biotic lover was clearly looking forward to a fight, but for her part Miranda’s had enough of war.  She hopes there’s a chance for a peaceful resolution to this crisis, but it’s hard to be optimistic.  Shepard is a very capable negotiator, but a high percentage of her missions do to seem to end in violence, and from everything Miranda has read, these creatures can be quite stubborn.

Suddenly, Miranda’s omni-tool flashes an alert, and her suspicions are confirmed.  “Magnus,” she says over the open comm channel, “She’s sent the signal.”

The turian’s voice shows no trace of emotion.  “Noted.  Lt. Moreau, open fire.”

           

The image of Admiral Hackett in front of her screams in pain, a horrible, grating sound that echoes through Ashara’s mind.  **“What have you done?!”**

She snarls, ignoring the feedback she’s experiencing as the mental link starts to waiver.  “Jammed your telepathy.  You didn’t really think I came here without a plan, did you?”

The darkness around her dissolves and as she stumbles from the shock, a supportive arm wraps around shoulder.  She can see Liara staring down at her, a concerned expression on her bondmate’s face.  She’s always beautiful to Ashara, but right then, the sight of her is especially soothing.

“Are you all right, Shepard?”

“I will be.”  She pulls herself back to her feet and looks out at the leviathan.  The creature seems stunned, just floating above the surface of the water.  “Not sure how long it’ll take for it to recover.”  She pulls out her Indra, and before the creature gets a chance to respond, she fires a burst into its caprice.  The rounds barely make a dent but that’s not the point.  They emit a unique radioactive signature that will enable the _Normandy_ and the rest of the fleet, when it arrives, to keep a targeting lock on the leviathan.

 “Come on,” she tells Liara.  “Let’s get clear before this thing starts moving.”  Shepard dashes into the antechamber beside her wife and the eyes of the rest of the team turn to her.  “So it looks like a partial success.  The disruptor has stopped leviathan from using its telepathy on us, but, judging from this,” she points to the pile of dead or unconscious cultists, “It doesn’t seem to have freed the rest of their thralls.”

 It’s not really a surprise.  Belaya wasn’t in range of any control mechanism on Thessia; she must have been conditioned deeply enough to not require it and either the same applies here, or at least some of them are serving of their own free will.  Either way, with her and her people protected from entrancement for now, it’s at least a fair fight.

In the distance, an explosion booms.  “Sounds like Spectre junior just checked in,” Jack laughs.

Elphi looks to Shepard.  “What about us?  What now?”

“We hold them off until…”  She’s still in the middle of her sentence when she sees Liara pointing behind them.  Leviathan is starting to move, but before she and the rest of the team can worry about that, it becomes clear that the creature isn’t coming for them.  It’s headed into space.

 

She’s in position on the hilltop overlooking the temple, waiting only for the skipper’s signal to attack.  Below her, she can see Shirat and Nadia in the jungle just at the outskirts of the temple.  Both are more effective at short range, and though they can close pretty quickly, there’s no need to make their jobs harder than they have to be.  It’s a strange feeling for Ashley, having her and her team relegated to a supporting role.  For years, she’s worked to establish herself as a leader in her own right, and if it was anyone else taking over, she might resent it.  This is Shepard, though.  She leads, Ashley follows.  It’s that simple.

The thermal scope on her sniper rifle lets Ashley see through the rain, but the walls of the temple are too thick for that to work.  That’s okay though; that’s why she has Gamal.  Next to her, the big Egyptian is just finishing setting up his missile launcher.  He earned his stripes in the resistance against the Reapers back on Earth, and whatever he lacks in subtlety, he more than makes up for in his aptitude for destruction.

“So, Cap,” he inquires, always cheerful no matter how dire things get, “You think there’s any chance this turns out to be a bust?  Just a few cups of tea and everything gets worked out nice and neat.”

Ashley’s omni-tool buzzes.  “That answer your question, soldier?”  He grins.  “Forward team, head in.  Gamal, light ‘em up.”

A rocket flies from the launcher, striking a side of the building safely distant from Shepard’s omni-tool’s position.  The rocket explodes in a shower of fire and black stone, and despite the smoke, Ashley’s scope allows her clear shots on a number of cultists.  Drop one, reload, then another, reload again, targets clear as a sunny day back at the Recruit Training Depot.  Garrus can keep his Widow, she’ll always be a Javelin girl.

Below her, Shirat and Nadia have engaged the cultists heading out of the front door in search of the source of the explosion.  The two are a lethal duo, the drell’s biotic jumps stunning the groups of enemies he impacts while the Shadow appears out of nowhere to knife down those strong enough to be left standing.  Ashley picks off the stragglers with her rifle, and as the enemy begins to mass in larger numbers near the entrance, she gestures to Gamal to prepare another rocket.  If they’re going to be the support team, than they’re damn well going to do it right.

 

“Any indication as to the effectiveness of the disruptor, Flight Lieutenant?”

Magnus’ voice is all military precision, the turian’s words spoken in almost exactly the same controlled tone no matter the situation.  It’s enough to make Joker nostalgic for something he never thought he’d miss: Garrus’ sense of humor.  “Well, Shepard’s had a chance to hit it with the tags and no giant squids have tried to yank us out of the sky with their mind yet, so I guess it did.”

“Very good.  Ensign Morris,” the turian orders, addressing the tall, thin, and regrettably far less cute man who’s replaced Samantha Traynor at the comm, “Signal the rest of the fleet to move in.  Lieutenant, what about the leviathan?”

“Not doing much yet… No, wait, it’s moving towards us.”

“Very well.  Once it’s clear of the structure, hit it with everything we’ve got.”

The creature starts accelerating through the atmosphere, and Joker opens fire with the Thanix canon.  The first shot is dead on, the radioactive tagging facilitating a clean strike to the creature’s body.  “Direct hit.  Seems to have felt it, but it’s not out yet.”

The leviathan begins moving again, a bit slower perhaps, but gaining speed as it goes.

“Continue fire.”

“All right, but…”

“What is the problem?”  Just the slightest hint of concern is detectable in Magnus’ voice.

“Scanners are picking up two more of them down there.”


	30. Massive Force

The battle had started out quite well.  Liara and Shepard took turns blocking the doorway with singularities while the rest of the team unleashed a withering fire sufficient to take down anyone managing to slip past the spinning purple spheres.  Combined with the occasional biotic detonation, Liara had been confidant that they could hold this room indefinitely if need be.

That, however, had ceased to be true a moment ago.  Now through the balcony doorway the asari can see two more grey shapes rising up from the ocean and it’s time to move.  Jack launches a powerful shockwave down the staircase, knocking the enemy reinforcements back, and Shepard and Javik follow up with a couple of grenades, creating a space for the team to advance downwards.

Before the two asari can clear the area as well, one of the creatures flies towards the antechamber, a massive tentacle smashing through the balcony and sending shards of stone crashing into the room.  Liara and Elphi throw up barriers as quickly as they can, preventing any major injuries, but a smaller rock pierces the shield on the former librarian’s side, hitting her in the stomach and leaving her doubled over.

Beneath them, Shepard yells, “Come on.  We have to get further into the temple.”  Liara grabs Elphi by the arm, pulling her back to her feet and leading her down the stairs and into the pandemonium below.  The long corridor she enters is opened onto by almost a dozen smaller rooms, and from nearly all of them, cultists are pouring out, their numbers and the multiple points of attack making it impossible for the team to control the battle in the same way they did in the antechamber.

Shepard knocks down an onrushing human with a biotically charged fist before turning to face the two asari.  “Liara,” she directs, her commanding voice ringing out over the chaos of the battle, “You’re with me.  Elphi, go give Jack a hand.”  The other asari, seeming mostly recovered, charges into the fray with her Disciple, blasting a vorcha that was clawing into Jack’s barriers while the biotic was distracted.

Liara is no solider like Shepard or Ashley.  Battle was never her calling.  Still, during her time on the _Normandy_ , she had come to appreciate that it had its own rhythms, terrible but also strangely beautiful at times.  Especially when she fights alongside Shepard.  With all of the missions that they’ve been through together and all of the times that they’ve joined, they move in almost perfect synchronization on the battlefield, anticipating each other’s actions without the need for words.

Liara catches a group of turians in a singularity, Ashara detonates it with a warp.  A drell with a shotgun tries to creep up behind Shepard while she clears a room with biotic grenades, but she knows Liara is there to catch him in a stasis field.  Javik is knocked down by a massive batarian’s omni-blade and Liara shoots him off the prothean with her submachine gun while Shepard watches her back.  They may be heavily outnumbered, but with Ashara by her side, Liara feels like they can handle any odds.

 

“Two more?”  Magnus’ voice remains calm, but Joker can tell the concern he heard earlier is rising.

Miranda breaks in over the comm.  “We need to hit them with another burst from the disruptor.”

“But with the amount of power it draws from the drive core,” Tali reminds her, “We’ll be limping and the main gun will be off-line for a while.”

“I know,” the operative insists, “But those two only caught the edges of the first shot.  If they recover their enthrallment abilities, we could be pulled right out of the sky, to say nothing of the danger the ground team will be in.”

“Do it,” Magnus snaps, and Joker centers the disruptor on the two leviathans down on the planet and prepares to fire again.

“Sorry about this baby,” he quips as the weapon discharges.  The energy pulse strikes home, but even as it does, Jeff can feel the _Normandy’s_ controls becoming sluggish.  The first leviathan is still moving towards them and though the pilot is trying to keep out of its path, the ship isn’t responding with its usual grace.  The creature is clearly intent on engaging them at point-blank range and Joker’s not sure how long he can avoid it.  “Strap in everybody,” he deadpans, “We may be about to experience some turbulence.”

 

“So much for my theory,” Ashley thinks aloud as she sees the second and third leviathans rising in the distance out of the ocean.  A couple of days earlier she had speculated that maybe this whole mess might be work of a single, rogue member of the species, but now it appears that all three of the surviving creatures that Shepard encountered on Despoina are involved.

One is smashing its way through the back of the temple while the other begins moving towards her group.  “Pull back,” she yells over the comm but while Nadia nimbly dances away from the turian she just stabbed and glides back towards the tree line, Ashley can see that Shirat is stuck, hemmed by a group of human cultists.

Nadia starts to backtrack towards him, but a burst from the assault rifle of the dead turian’s female companion catches her in the chest, knocking down her shields and sending her scurrying into the relative safety of the jungle.  She’ll be okay, but she’s not going to be able to save Shirat.

“Shit,” Ashley mutters under her breath as the leviathan draws closer.  “Gamal, see if you can distract it with a rocket.”  Shouldering her sniper rifle, she pulls out her Harrier and breaks into a run down the hillside.  A couple of drell cultists try to bar her path, but she slams them with a concussive shot, not even breaking stride as she continues towards Shirat.  Above her, she can hear the missile impact into the bulk of the leviathan, but it barely seems to slow the thing’s inexorable movement towards the team.

Something does though, and judging by the slight hum in the air, it’s the disruptor firing again.  The weapon is designed to hit the creature with a massive amount of energy carefully calibrated to a frequency that causes any transmissions it makes, whether they’re telepathy, mind control, or electromagnetic pulses that pull down ships, to get reduced to harmless static.

Taking advantage of the distraction, Ashley makes it to the circle of humans closing in around Shirat.  He’s managed to down three of the eight, but his side is leaking dark brown blood from a gunshot wound and his movements are wobbly.

Carefully tossing an inferno grenade so as to avoid Shirat, she catches two of the cultists at the edge of an explosion.  As they scream and burn, the rest of her enemies turn to face her, pulling their attention away from the wounded drell.  She strafes one of them across the chest with her assault rifle, but before she can find a second target, a huge, fair-haired man leaps at her, slamming the Spectre to the ground.

He tries to pin Ashley, but ignoring the shock that ran through her head when her helmeted cracked into the ground, she drives a knee up into his crotch first.  He flinches and it’s enough of an opening to let her roll him off of her.  Even as Shirat is gunning down the last other cultist with his Wraith, Ashley dives to her rifle.  The huge blonde charges her again, but just before he can get his hands on her, she squeezes the trigger and his dead body slumps at her feet.

Letting the drell drape an arm over her shoulder, Ashley starts making her way back towards the tree line, but the leviathan seems to have recovered enough from the disruptor shot to move again.  As it’s huge shadow begins to fall over the two of them, Ashley’s not sure what she’s going to do if the reinforcements don’t get here soon.

 

Joker’s pulled out every trick he knows, but with the ship’s limited mobility and the leviathan’s surprising speed, it wasn’t enough.  The creature’s massive tendrils are pressing against the _Normandy’s_ cyclonic barriers, and even inside the cockpit, he can almost feel the strain on the hull.

“Get off, you son of a bitch!”, he growls.  With the Thanix canon unavailable, he fires a volley from the Javelin missile launchers and the monster shakes but it doesn’t let go of the ship.  Whatever primordial biology or cybernetics allow it to generate mass effect fields capable of space travel also let it create barriers too formidable for the missiles to breach.

Behind him, Joker can hear the scrape of metal on metal as the plates of the hull start to strain under the tremendous pressure of the leviathan’s grasp.  “Come on,” he screams into the comm, “Tell me we’ve got power back for the canon.”

“Any second now, Joker,” Tali promises.  “Miranda?”

“Just one…”  The operative pauses for an instant.  “Got it.  Power levels more or less acceptable.  Let him have it.”

Joker slams his hand onto the firing control so hard he’s afraid he broke a bone and a beam of yellow light leaps out of the _Normandy’s_ main gun, slamming into the leviathan at point-blank range.  The creature’s grip breaks and it drifts away from the ship, badly injured if the dark purple gas leaking of the hole in it’s carapace is any indication. 

Before he can get in an insult or two at it’s expense though, his attention is yanked backwards to the bridge of the _Normandy_.  Sparks are flying everywhere as a series of electrical explosions triggered either by the leviathan or the backlash from the close range detonation ravage the CIC.  A couple of the support staff appear dead, Ensign Morris has a vicious laceration across his face, and Magnus is lying on the ground, unconscious beneath a fallen beam.  Opening a channel to the Med-Bay, Joker yells, “Get to the bridge, Doc,” before turning back to the helm.

The leviathan is starting to move again, limping back toward the _Normandy_ , and Joker realizes with some alarm that the Thanix canon isn’t ready to fire again yet.  Just as he’s trying to aim the Javelins at the hole in the monster however, its whole body erupts in orange fire as a series of torpedoes detonate against it’s wounded form.  Looking at the ship’s sensors he can see them begin to fill up with the signatures of new vessels and the familiar voice of an old comrade booms over the comm, “Looks like we came to the right place.  Shepard finally found some more giant monsters for the krogan to kill.”


	31. Passing Not Gently Into the Night

“Wrex!”  Joker has never been happier to hear the cantankerous old warrior’s voice.  “Glad you finally got here.”

Joker can practically see the self-satisfied grin on the krogan’s face over the comm as he chuckles, “And with my usual great timing too.  Looks like you were about to lose another _Normandy_.”  A number of ships circle around the wounded leviathan, bombarding it with missiles and mass accelerator weapons while the rest of them break towards Ondren.  “Since you sent the signal, I’m guessing that Tali’s little toy worked.”

The quarian’s voice breaks in over the comm line.  “Of course it did, you big nath’har.”*

“As much as I hate to break up this touching reunion,” the pilot quips while out of his window, the leviathan’s massive bulk shudders and at last ceases to move, “I think Shepard could use a hand down there.  I have it on good authority there are about a thousand crazed cultists on that planet, to say nothing of two more of these things.”

“Don’t get your quad twisted, Joker,” Wrex chides,  “I’m on it.”

 

Shepard puts a bullet through the forehead of a turian trying to stab Elphi with his omni-blade while Liara closes off one end of the hallway with a singularity. A grenade from Javik takes out two more of the cultists, and it seems like they’re finally reaching the end of the ones on this floor.  If they can just stop more of them from getting in…

That thought is swiftly rendered irrelevant by the sound of rock cracking above her.  Looking up, she sees the grey tips of a leviathan’s tentacles breaking through the high ceiling.  An inhuman sound, somewhere between the trumpet of an elephant and the shriek of a predatory bird fills the room and Jack laughs.  “Well, we seem to have pissed it off.”

“If you had remained with the _Normandy_ longer,” Liara remarks, shooting down one of the two remaining cultists with her Paladin, “You would have become accustomed to baiting immense creatures.”

“Hey, I was at the Collector base.”  Jack biotically slams the last of the cultists against a wall.  “Unlike little miss librarian here.”

“Well, no time like the present to get started.”  Elphi hurls a reave at the leviathan’s intruding tentacle, the biotic attack shimmering when it impacts its potent barriers.

Shepard activates her omni-tool.  “Joker, tell me the reinforcements are close.”

“Just got here, Commander.  They should be down to you soon.”

Ashara turns back to her team.  “Just a little longer.”  A tentacle finishes smashing a hole in the roof, and stones shower down on them.  “Barrier!”, Shepard yells, and the entire squad of biotics throw up the most powerful shield their immense combined strength can generate, a glowing dome of force that the chunks of rock bounce off of harmlessly.  Ashara retaliates with a warp, detonating the biotic effect Elphi generated.

The rest of the squad rapidly follows suit, a barrage of weapons fire and biotics impacting against the leviathan’s barriers.  The creature shakes slightly under the impact of so much directed fire, but it pushes forward.  A first tentacle slams downward into their shield and Shepard feels as if the weight of the world is pressing against her, her temples throbbing with the effort of maintaining it against such terrific force.

A second tentacle joins the first and when she hears the strained groans coming from her team, Ashara knows they can’t keep this up much longer.  Time to improvise.  She barks, “Scatter!”, and the group lets the barriers dissolve.  The overextended leviathan falls into the temple, it’s own momentum sending it crashing into the floor of the temple.

Shepard dives clear of the crash and while the thing is distracted from maintaining its barrier, she jams her Indra into a crack in its plates, emptying an entire clip of biotic ammunition into the flesh beneath.  The leviathan jerks slightly in apparent pain, but then its mass effect field reasserts itself, throwing her clear across the broken room.  She lands with a thud against a stone wall, her vision swimming but her barrier protects her against the brunt of the impact.

Shaking it off, she can see Liara pulling Elphi up, the woman having fallen part-way into the hole in the floor created by the crash.  Javik, meanwhile, has taken advantage of the shift in its attention to target his particle rifle on another exposed point in its armor, hitting it with a steady steam of energy who’s effects unfortunately seemed to taper off as the creature regains its bearings.  By then, her bondmate has succeeded in pulling Elphi clear, but as they dive away from the leviathan, it extends a tendril out to seize the two asari.

It’s pushed aside.  Standing there between them and it, alight with power, is Jack.  The creature tries to again to grab them, but for an instant, she’s forcing it back.  Shepard is deeply impressed.  There aren’t a lot of biotics stronger than her, but Jack is unquestionably one of them.  Ashara may have a great deal more combat expertise, but when it comes to raw force, the ex-convict is the most powerful she’s ever encountered.

She’s not powerful enough.  Even as Shepard pulls herself to her feet, the creature overpowers Jack’s field and it’s tentacle wraps around the biotic.  Ashara can see Jack straining to keep herself from being crushed, the remnants of her barrier pushing against the armored flesh.  Liara and Elphi add their own strength, their biotics trying to pull the creature off while Javik strikes it with a Dark Channel.  It’s too strong to be deterred though, and Ashara can see the fear in Jack’s eyes as the coils tighten.

Not again.  She’s not losing another friend.  With a determined cry, Shepard reaches deep inside herself and summons the most powerful shockwave she can muster, hurling it against the armored limb.  The biotic explosion loosens the leviathan’s grip for an instant, and Elphi’s biotics pull Jack through the air and clear of harm.  A tentacle whirls at the former Spectre and Ashara ducks, mostly avoiding it, but still catching enough of the impact to hurt.

She slams against the ground hard, her barriers breaking, and the wind is partly knocked out of her.  She rolls clear of a second strike and from the floor she can see Liara rushing towards her, unleashing a powerful biotic blast at the tentacle to buy her time.  She doesn’t waste it, flipping back to her feet and firing a few shots from her Paladin into a second tentacle trying to strike Liara.

Her bondmate slides under it but when Elphi flanks the leviathan and blasts away with her Disciple, the move earns her a crack across the barriers.  She raises her arm to block, and from across the room, Ashara can hear the limb snap.  Elphi falls, but even as Javik is moving to aid her, the creature screams in pain, a horrible grating sound, higher than the cry of rage it had emitted earlier.

From above, a series of blasts strike across the leviathan’s head spikes and through the hole in the ceiling, Shepard can see a number of attack shuttles unleashing their fire against the creature.  Out of the ships are pouring scores of krogan commandos, descending all around the ruined structure, adding shotgun blasts, grenades, and their renowned fury to the attack.

A particular large krogan lands near her and a familiar voice calls out, “Battlemaster!”  The krogan discharges his Claymore into the leviathan.  “I heard you found a big fight and I thought I’d take Aralakah Company along.”

“Grunt!”  She laughs, her tension beginning to lessen now that the cavalry has arrived.  “I thought you were a general now, not just a company commander.”

“Sure, I am.”  He fires a concussive shot at a few cultists trying to make their way up the stairs before reloading his gun.  “But for a really good battle, I only bring the best.”

The surrounding krogan below with pride while Shepard fires another shockwave to detonate a warp effect Liara has set up for her.  The leviathan totters under the weight of the combined assault and as her bondmate joins Ashara and Grunt to press home the final attack, the commander can feel the controlled fire of battle within her starting to give way to the headier energy of victory.

 

Ashley dives forward, yanking Shirat along with her.  The two of them barely manage to get out of the way of the armored tentacle as it crashes into the ground behind them, the earth exploding in a shower of wet dirt.  Another of Gamal’s rockets slams into the leviathan, pausing it for a moment, but though Ashley tries to keep them moving, the injured drell’s legs give out from under him and he collapses in a heap at her feet.

It all seems to happen in a blur after that.  The leviathan turns its attention back towards them, its grey bulk looming overhead.  The drell yells, “Run!”  Ashley opens her mouth to object.  Shirat shoves her away.  A powerful tentacle slams down at them.  And she leaps.

It’s instinct taking over, not a conscious decision to abandon her comrade, but the effect is the same.  She hurls herself backwards, the shockwave from the impact slamming her on her back and bruising her ribs.  She bolts to her feet, looking for Shirat, but as the leviathan’s tentacle rises, there’s not even enough left of her squad-mate to call a body.

There’s nothing left for Ashley to do but run, screaming with helpless rage as she tries to get clear of the creature.  Ducking and weaving, the Spectre manages to make it into the jungle, but by then, she’s no longer the target of its attentions.  It’s going for Gamal, apparently tired of having rockets fired into its side.

She turns and unleashes her assault rifle on the creature, burst after burst striking home, but it barely seems to have any effect on its barriers.  Gamal sees the danger he’s in and starts to run down the hill, but the leviathan is far faster and there’s a sick feeling in Ashley’s gut as she realizes that it’s going to kill him.  It’s killed Shirat and it’s going to kill Gamal and there’s nothing that she can do from here to stop it.

Nadia has taken care of the female turian and she makes her way to the Spectre’s flank, looking on in the same horror as the Egyptian bolts into the jungle.  The leviathan smashes the rocket launcher before pursuing, and Ashley drops her rifle, switching back to the Javelin.  She lines up a perfect shot, the bullet on course to strike one of its eyes, but to no avail.  The barrier deflects the shot and the swipe of a tentacle knocks over the trees around Gamal, though his personal condition is obscured by the foliage.

“Where are the krogan, Joker?”, she barks into her omni-tool.

“A minute and a half out, Captain.” 

“Damn it!”, she growls in frustration.  Gamal doesn’t have 2 minutes.  “All right, I need an orbital strike on that creature.”

“Um, Ma’am…”  She knows what he’s going to say.  The risk of collateral damage is high.  But there’s no choice.

“Do it!”, she snaps, before yelling on Gamal’s omni-tool frequency for him to duck.

Seconds later, the sky is split by a beam of light that slams into the leviathan and spreads a sea of fire through the surrounding trees.  The monster halts, temporality stunned, and Ashley squeezes off another shot while its barriers are down, hoping to at least draw its attention.

The leviathan turns, grasping a flaming tree branch in a tentacle, and with a speed that catches the Spectre by surprise, hurls it at her.  Ashley barely hits the ground in time, and as she lies on the muddy earth, the burning fragments of the log rain down on her shields.  Nadia has more nimbly evaded the attack, and she draws her Eagle, firing a burst from it in the direction of the leviathan in an attempt to keep its gaze fixed on the two women.

Ashley pulls herself to her feet, brushing the debris off of her uniform just in time to see Gamal running out of the burning forest.  He looks like crap, a limp in his step, burns on his body, but he’s not dead yet.  She races towards the heavy weapons expert, trying to reach him before the leviathan does.

She’s pre-empted though.  The monster jerks in pain as a wave of assault shuttles descend from the sky, discharging their canons into the creature.  Dozens of krogan start to join them as Ashley pulls Gamal away from the line of fire.  “You all right, soldier?”

He coughs, a bit of blood coming up.  “I’ll live, boss.  Shirat?”  She shakes her head and he nods, grimacing.  As the reinforcements continue to pour in, he adds, “At least this son of a dog is getting what’s coming to it.”

Ashley knows from bitter experience that that’s not enough.  Later though, will be the time to mourn.  For now, she thinks as the squads of krogan move to annihilate the fresh cultists pouring out of the temple, she’ll just have to try and share Gamal’s sense of grim satisfaction.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Nath’har: A quarian word translating roughly as lug or lummox. I think Tali really should have more than one insult to use.


	32. Patching the Wounds

Her final shot slams into the falling leviathan and as the creature topples to the ground dead, the first words that Shepard hears are, “Well, that was fun.”

Ejecting the heat sink from her Paladin and looking down at the fallen grey mass that dominates most of the wrecked chamber, she supposes that from Grunt’s perspective, that might be true.  Massively outnumbered and deprived of their psychic abilities, the leviathans hadn’t lasted long after the krogan arrived.  The cultists too had largely folded, the bulk of them surrendering once death removed their master’s control.  A few true believers had fought to the bitter end, but they were the exceptions.

She shakes her head.  “Well, you got to skip right to the finale.”

Grunt grins.  “Hey, we would have been here sooner if you’d let us.”

“I know.  But we had to see if the disruptor worked before we moved the bulk of our ships in range of these things.  Plus, if they realized how much force we’d brought, they might not have shown themselves.”

“Hah, nobody wants to fight the krogan!”  Shepard laughs at his contagious enthusiasm and Grunt continues, “Still, pretty gutsy, using yourself as the bait.  That’s why you’re my Battlemaster.”

She slaps him on the back,  “Gutsy, huh?  I guess I did open a tank labeled ‘angry krogan inside.’”

While Grunt chuckles to himself, Shepard goes to check on the rest of her team.  Javik is putting Elphi’s shattered arm in a make-shift sling.  Even from a distance, Ashara can see an uncharacteristic gentleness to his manner that she can only smile at.

She’s more concerned about Jack, who Liara is applying medi-gel to.  As Shepard gets closer, she sees the biotic holding her chest in obvious pain with her left arm, her right hanging limply at her side.  Her bondmate turns her head at her approach and Ashara asks, “How’s she doing, Liara?”

Before the asari can answer, Jack rasps out, “Could be worse.  That was... close.”

Liara rolls her eyes.  “She will be all right with proper treatment.  And, I would imagine, less talking.”  Jack’s expression grows more pained.  Keeping quiet is not exactly her forte.

“Well, I appreciate what you did there.  That was a hell of a display.”

The ex-convict just nods in understanding while Liara is taking off Shepard’s helmet.  “What about you, love?  You took a shot as well.”

“I’m okay; managed to roll with it.”  Blue fingers run over her head, and there’s some tenderness when they touch a bump near the back.  “Ah… Just a little sore is all.”

“I’m glad.” Ashara can hear the relief in her voice.  One last time they’ve made it through, but there’ll be time to appreciate that later.  For now, there are other people to look after.

“Liara, can you get our walking wounded back to the ship?  I’m going to check on Ash’s team.”

The asari nods and with a tender kiss, sends Ashara on her way.   The krogan troops now filling up the temple cheer whenever they see the former Spectre and Shepard does her weary best to return the gesture.  Of all the decisions that she’s lost sleep over, her decision to cure the Genophage hasn’t turned into one of them.  She had faith in Wrex and Eve to set their people on a better path, and they’ve repaid her faith once again.

When she reaches the outside of the temple, her eye is drawn at first to the massive corpse of the third leviathan stretched across the blasted jungle, but that’s not where she finds Ashley.  The Spectre is instead standing nearer to the temple in a patch of open ground, starring down in ashen silence at mangled remains.

“Skip.”  Ashley looks up, her bare face soaked from the rain, her voice hollow.

“Who?”, Ashara asks softly; the body is too damaged for her to identify it at a glance.

“Shirat.”  Ashley’s voice is shaky, and Shepard realizes that this may be the first time she’s ever lost a squad-member as captain of the _Normandy_.  Any loss among the crew is hard, but there’s something about the death of those whom you’ve trusted to watch your back and who’ve trusted you to do the same that’s particularly painful.  “He was hurt and I was trying to get him clear of that damn monster but I couldn’t.  He fell and I saved myself.”  She snarls,  “I got away and left him to die.”

Shepard knows the pain she hears in Ashley’s words; it comes from the same guilt she’s intimately familiar with.  “I’m sure you did everything you could to save him.”

“It wasn’t enough.”  She looks up at Shepard, her eyes filled with angry tears.  “I checked back in with the ship.  Three, four people dead.  Magnus in critical in the med-bay.  Pretty great job I’ve done as captain.”

“Ash, it was my plan, not yours.”

“It was a good one.  We had to hold back our forces until the disruptor worked.  It was my job to manage my team and I should have been better.  You would’ve done better.  You always…”

“Not always,” she replies sadly.

“Virmire,” Ashley says simply.  Shepard isn’t surprised that her mind is going there.  It had taken Ash a long time to overcome her survivor’s guilt after that mission.  “Shepard, can I ask you something?”

“Of course, Ash.”                  

“Why me?  Why did you save me and not Kaiden.”

Ashara takes a deep breath.  She’s never explained this to anyone but Liara, and even in her case, not until years after the fact.  “Do you really want to know?”  Ashley nods and Shepard continues, “Because you were with the bomb.  It had to go off and I was worried Saren might stop you.”

“I could’ve held out long enough!”, Ashley yells.

“Probably,” Shepard says calmly.  “But I had to be sure.  There was no good call and that’s what broke the tie.”  She pauses, debating whether to finish the story, before deciding that it may do some good for Ashley to see her regrets.  “I just hope Kaiden knew that.”

Ashley seems confused by the comment.  “What do you mean?  Why else would he think you picked me?”

Shepard sighs.  “Did you know that Kaiden had a crush on me.”

Ashley laughs in spite of the weight of the moment.  “I think everyone on the ship knew that.  Those puppy dog eyes he used to make…”

“Well, he finally found his nerve shortly before Virmire.  Hadn’t gotten the memo about my preferences I guess.”  She chuckles bitterly.  “Liara and I were just getting involved at the time, and she was so uncertain of herself that I didn’t want there to be any doubt about who I was interested in.  I shot him down harshly, more so than I needed to, and I don’t want him to have thought that was why I picked you.”

“I’m sure he didn’t.”

Shepard nods in agreement.  “And Shirat knew that you didn’t abandon him.  Sometimes, it’s not you or him; it’s you or nobody.  Sometimes, there are no good choices and you have to accept that.”

“And it’s that easy?  You just live with it?”

“No,” Shepard shakes her head.  “It’s not easy.  It took me years to come to terms with all the decisions I made during the war.  But you have something I didn’t back then.”

“What’s that?”

“Time.  The ship’s going to need repairs anyway.  Give everyone shore leave.  Let them mourn.  See Michael.  From what you you’ve told me about him, he knows something about this kind of loss.”

“Probably a good idea.”  She gives Shepard a respectful look.  “God, the shit you went through.  I didn’t totally get it until I took command but honestly, I don’t know how you did it.”

With a lot of pain and the love of an incredible woman, Shepard thinks.  “You’re doing fine.  Now, let’s get out of this rain and back to the ship.  Your crew is going to need their leader.”

Ashley smiles gratefully at her.  “I guess they’re not the only ones, skip.”

 

 

“You are fidgeting Miranda.  I don’t think I ever seen you fidget before.”

“I am not,” Miranda lies, trying to stop her fingers from drumming nervously against her thigh.

Tali, however, is not so easily deceived.  “You’re worried about Jack.”

“Perhaps I am,” she concedes.  Jack apparently isn’t in critical condition, but she also wasn’t able to talk when Liara reported in from the surface, and the operative is trying not to make herself crazy picturing what’s happened to her lover.

Miranda tries changing the subject.  “I am sorry to hear about Shirat.”  Word of the drell’s death only reached them a few minutes ago, and she wonders if Tali’s teasing isn’t her way of trying to avoid a difficult topic.  “Did you know him very well?”

“Not really.  He kept to himself mostly.  I think that he had lost a great deal in the war…”

As did so many, Miranda thinks as the quarian’s voice trails off.  But at least some of them were lucky enough to find some things as well.

“He told me once,” Tali recalls suddenly, “That drell have perfect memories.  They can remember everything that happened to them as it if was the present.”

“I know,” Miranda says distantly.  She has always thought it horrible.  There’s enough of the past gnawing at her, things she saw and things she did, without being able to recall it in that kind of detail.  “I’m sure it must have been a great burden for him.”

Tali starts to reply but then the shuttle bay doors open and Miranda’s attention is yanked away.  Jack staggers off of the ship, trying her injured best to avoid Liara’s attempts to help her.  Her chest is bandaged and there are some scrapes and cuts, but compared to what the operative has been picturing, it doesn’t seem that bad.  She tries to keep her relief from being too obvious, but an involuntary “Jack,” escapes her lips and she hurries to the biotic’s side.

Jack plays at annoyance with her concern, but when Miranda leans over and kisses her, she can feel the affection in the touch of her lips.  Composing herself, the operative looks up at the two arrivals, now joined by Javik and an injured Elphi, her arm in a make-shift sling.  “I’m sorry Doctor Chakwas isn’t here, but she’s swamped with the casualties from the attack on the ship so you’ll have to make to do with me.”

Liara smiles.  “Well, you did bring Shepard back from the brink of death twice, so I imagine you’re up to dealing with a few broken bones.”

Indeed, as she examines Jack’s injuries they don’t appear to be too severe.  She does have a few cracked ribs and a fracture in her right shoulder, but with proper care, they should be healed in a matter of weeks.  One of the ribs however, is pressed against her lungs in a way that causes Miranda to advise her to give it a few days before she tries to talk much.

“Hah,” Jack forces out in clear defiance of her lover’s advice.  “Finally found way… to shut me up.”

“Ssh,” Miranda whispers, making that sure no one else can hear her.  “I have better means of doing that.”  Jack makes a half-hearted attempt to cop a feel of her ass, and Miranda pushes her hand down gently.  “You’re incorrigible.”

Jack gives her a look that she would define as somewhere between offended and smug and Miranda can’t help but smile.  “Perhaps later, when you weren’t just crushed by a primordial monster.”  Jack lays her head on shoulder and Miranda strokes her hair, adding, “On the upside, we are starting to run out of those.”


	33. Finding Comfort

By the time Shepard arrives back on the _Normandy_ , Wrex is already there waiting for her.  The old krogan is in the cargo hold flanked by a few of his warriors and no sooner has she gotten off of the shuttle then his short arms are pulling her into a bear hug. “Shepard!  Good to see you again.”

She shoves him off with a laugh.  “Easy there, Wrex.  It’s been a really long day.”

“That’s just because you hogged all the fun.”  He flashes that big, toothy grin of his.  “I had to stay up here being a responsible leader while you got to tangle with the leviathans.”

She rubs her forehead.  “Yeah, there’s nothing more enjoyable than having a giant squid yelling in your brain and then fighting a horde of cultists while trying to avoid getting crushed to death.”

Wrex chuckles as Ashley disembarks behind Shepard.  “Williams!  How’ve you been?”

Ashley nods, but is in no mood for banter.  “Fine, Wrex.  I need to go and check on my crew.”

As the Spectre heads off for the med-bay, the krogan leader turns back to Ashara.  “Something I said?”

“No, she just lost somebody down there.”  Wrex nods, his jovial mask stowed away for now.  “Anyway,” Shepard adds, “I can’t thank you enough for doing this.  It’s not easy finding somebody willing and able to bring a force like this on short notice and keep the reasons why quiet.  You really came through for me.”

“It needed doing.  One of the benefits of getting my people that cure,” Wrex explains.  “Is that most of them actually listen to me without needing a club to the head.  Of course,” he chortles, looking back and forth at the surrounding krogan, “Anybody asking for one still gets it.”  They laugh along with their leader, and he continues, “’Course, they’d have been glad to do it for you too, Shepard, but I couldn’t tell them it was your plan until we got here.  And speaking of plans, I’m guessing that disruptor wasn’t cooked up last week.  You been planning this for a while now?”

“Not exactly.”  She runs her hand through her damp hair.  “After the war, I asked Miranda and her Alliance R&D team to look at some of the leviathan artifacts and study the scans we made during the mission to Despoina to develop a countermeasure.  I didn’t know this was going to happen, but those things were powerful and dangerous and we needed a defense just in case.”

“Makes sense.”  He nods approvingly at her caution.  “Your old nurse did good work.”

She snorts at the description of Miranda.  “Tali too.”

“Tali.”  He grins once more.  “Good for her.  Why don’t we see what my shotgun sister is up to.”  The group heads for the lift and Wrex offers cheerfully, “Just remember, if there’s any other monsters that need killing, you can always count on the krogan.”  He thinks for a moment.  “Rachni behaving themselves?”

She laughs.  “They’ve been nothing but peaceful.  But it’s always good to know that I’ve got you in my corner.”

 

Ashley hesitates outside of the med-bay, dreading what she’ll find inside, but taking a deep breath, she straightens her shoulders and forces her body through the door.  Whatever she’s feeling, she’s the captain of the _Normandy_ and that means she doesn’t get the luxury of indulging those feelings when her crew needs her.

Doctor Chakwas greets her solemnly as she walks through the door.  “Captain Williams, are you all right?”

“Don’t worry about me, doc.  Tell me about the situation here.”

“I’m afraid Ensigns Vasquez and Chang were killed instantly by the explosion on the bridge and Corporeal Dawson bled out from a severed femoral artery before I could reach him.  I’m trying to relieve the pressure on Private Batista’s brain, but it’s too soon to know if he’ll ever regain consciousness.”

Ashley shakes her head sadly.  Those were good soldiers all.  “Any better news?”

“Ensign Morris should make a full recovery, though I imagine he’ll be glad of our cybernetic surgery equipment.  And Commander Magnus is awake, though I must insist you keep your conversation brief.  He needs rest but insisted on seeing you first.”

“Stubborn bastard,” she mutters, trying to take comfort in that small victory.

The turian is lying in bed with a trail of bandages starting on his face and disappearing down between the sheets.  When he sees her though, his posture reflexively straightens and the “Captain,” he gives her is impressively formal.

“Damn,” she thinks to herself, “And I thought being military ran in my veins.”

“Sorry to report…”, he forces out, “Wasn’t able to… failed…”

“Don’t say that, Commander.  The ship survived and the mission was a success.  You did fine.”  She thinks of that turian saying, “Victory at any cost,” but her XO has never accepted anything less than perfection, sometimes from his subordinates, but always from himself.  She pats him on the uninjured side of his body.  “I need you back.  Can’t have my XO malingering around here too long.”

“Wouldn’t think of it, Ma’am.”  He makes a choking sound in the back of his throat.  “Just stay here long enough so… won’t have to listen to you snore all the way to dry dock.”

In spite of the moment, she laughs.  “Damn soldier, if I knew all it took to get a joke out of you was blowing up the bridge, I would’ve done it years ago.”

 

“So, what now?”  Her arm properly set, Elphi is standing with Javik in the observation longue.  With typical military efficiency, the room has been thoroughly cleaned, all evidence the previous night’s revels gone.  Her memory of them certainly isn’t though, and she’s wondering if it was just a one-time thing or not.

“I have had little time to consider it.”  She likes the prothean’s voice.  Everyone thinks of him as humorless, but there’s a little sarcastic edge to it that she enjoys.  “When this began, I had been intending to fulfill my promise to help Liara with her book on my people.”

“I’d definitely read that,” she smiles playfully.  She’s glad to hear he’ll be coming back to Thessia, if only for a while.  “What about afterwards?”

“I understand that the hanar regard me as a god.  Perhaps I should consider residing on Kahje.”

Elphi’s heart sinks a little.  Maybe it was silly of her to think there could be anything real between them, but she jokes to cover her disappointment.  “Well, who doesn’t like a little worship?”

A tiny smile appears on Javik’s face.  “And yet, I imagine the jellyfish would become tiresome soon enough.”

Her own grin is much broader.  “Probably would.  You know, Garrus left a vacancy at the academy.  If you’re interested, I’m sure Shepard would…”

A grey hand wraps around her shoulder.  “I am.”

 

Stepping off of the elevator and into her old cabin, Ashara exhales, a long sigh that sounds to Liara as if her bondmate is trying to expel all of the tension of the day, the mission, really everything since that night in the parking lot on Thessia.  The asari runs a loving hand through her rumbled blonde hair, carefully avoiding the shrinking but still sore bump on the back of her head.  “We made it, Ashara,” she says softly.

Shepard begins unbuckling her armor, letting the pieces fall to the ground.  “We did.”  She smiles lovingly, but Liara can see regret mixed in with her relief and affection.  “There were still losses though.  I wish it hadn’t come to this.”

“I know.”  Liara pulls off her boots and coat, tossing the still-damp garments in a pile by the fish tank.  “What did it say that made you send the signal?”

Shepard removes her own boots and flops down on the bed.  “It threatened you.  The leviathan wanted me to submit to its will, to help it take control of the galaxy and when I refused, it said it would kill you and Moira along with our friends if I didn’t.”  Liara can hear the anger in her wife’s voice even recalling the exchange.

“That was,” she pauses for a moment, considering her words while unbuttoning her shirt and adding it to the growing pile, “A most unwise decision.”

“Why did they do it?”  Shepard looks up at Liara, her green eyes alight.  “We were allies, and they threatened that.  What choice did I have?”

“None, love.”  Liara removes the final piece of damp clothing, her pants, and falls into Ashara’s waiting arms.  Her bondmate’s strong embrace enfolds her and the physical reminder of Shepard’s survival warms her heart.  “You know,” she says softly, kissing the base of her neck, “That this was not Rannoch.”  The choice there was as hard as any her wife had had to make before the Catalyst.  “That was between two species.  This was just the bitter remnants of one, whose hubris had caused immense suffering.”

Ashara draws Liara up to her and kisses her warmly and slow.  “I love you so much.  You always know the right things to say.  It may not be the same, but I still wish they’d made another choice, for everyone’s sake.”

“I do too.”  She unbuttons Shepard’s shirt, running her hands over the skin beneath it, feeling the muscles arch into her touch.  “Are you all right?”

“Yeah.  It’ll take some processing, but yeah.”  She sounds weary, but Liara is relieved that it’s not the same kind of pain she sometimes used to hear in her voice after the war.  “A wise asari helped me to see I can’t control everything, just make the best of the choices I have.”

Liara smiles appreciatively.  Realizing that even Commander Shepard wasn’t all-powerful had done a great deal to help her bondmate recover and she was grateful that she had helped her do that.  “And you did that today.  You were magnificent.”  Removing Shepard’s bra, she plants a series of small kisses along her breasts.  “You know, in spite of all of this, it was nice to fight alongside you again.”

Ashara’s face brightens, unhooking Liara’s bra as well, cupping one of her soft blue breasts in her strong hand.  Liara purrs, enjoying both the physical sensation and the knowledge that her wife is feeling good enough to enjoy this.  Shepard uses her other hand to stroke the asari’s crest while she offers, “Well, if you want to help me do a demo or two at the academy, we can definitely show them how it’s done.”

“I would like that.”  Her slim blue fingers drop down to unfasten Shepard’s pants and tangle through the blonde hair above her sex, causing the Spectre to sigh happily.  “And I’m sure Aethyta will be glad to babysit when we do.”

“Glad?”  Liara gasps as Shepard’s fingers slip insider her underwear, brushing lightly over her opening.  “She’ll be thrilled you’re keeping your combat skills sharp.”

Liara moves her hand down, and when she finds Shepard’s clit, her bondmate moans into her shoulder.  “I suspect you are right.  For now though,” she whispers seductively, “Let me remind you of the more enjoyable way to make mental contact with an alien.”  Ashara’s lips join with hers and as their kiss deepens, Liara’s eyes fill with blackness and all their concerns seem to go very far away indeed.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And that's the end of Where They Travelled. Wow, that ended up being a lot longer than I'd planned. Thanks for reading and special thanks to everyone who commented and left Kudos. Look for the final part of 4th Life, What Endured, to begin in a few weeks or so. In the meantime, there should be more updates to 4th Life By Night, and consider checking out The Other Side, stories featuring Ashara and Liara during the trilogy from Liara's POV.


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